How digital twins have evolved, with the help of geospatial data, to capture more complex environments than ever.

Contributed by Greg Milner

Weary travelers lost in San Francisco International Airport (SFO) can access a map of the facility on their cell phones. The map, built with geographic information system (GIS) technology, provides the information to get them where they need to go. But there’s much more to the map—it guides operations.

These additional layers, accessible to the people who run and maintain the airport, reveal the airport’s dazzling complexity. All 1.8 million square feet of the International Terminal are included. Every individual component—from the 15,000 doors to the 2,000 trees—is present and accounted for.

Peel back those layers and peek underground. You’ll find the 400 miles of labeled subsurface utilities, including water, electrical, and wastewater. The airport’s exteriors are pictured, gathered through lidar and other methods, seamlessly integrated into the GIS.

For operations detail, building information models (BIM) find their place on the map. Closets, walkways, plumbing—it’s all there, ready to aid in repairs or long-term projects. Informative GIS layers, such as the location of wireless access points, augment the detailed BIM information.

And this is just the static map information. Indoor tracking shows the position of critical equipment. Outside, the current locations of maintenance vehicles are revealed.

From the public version to the sensitive high-security layers, it’s all the same GIS-supported map. But it’s more than that. This is SFO in its entirety: the permanent parts, the semi-permanent, and those items are always on the move.

So let’s not call it a map. What SFO has built is a geospatial digital twin.

SFO’s digital twin includes a 3D viewer that gives personnel the details they need to perform maintenance and safeguard travelers, as well as an app to guide travelers through interior spaces.

The Evolution of Digital Twins

The concept of the digital twin is not new, although it has undergone radical alterations. The earliest digital twins appeared in the manufacturing world, as far back as the 1980s. They were a way to measure the performance of factory machinery and processes, down to the level of individual components.

Although helpful for understanding plant operations, the utilities of these early digital twins were limited. An analyst could note strengths and weaknesses in the system, and detect problems and bottlenecks, but would struggle to apprehend its totality.

Modern digital twins provide this totality, without compromising granularity. Just as the human body relies on the interconnection of systems such as the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system, complex systems in organizations function through constantly flowing interactions. A modern digital twin recognizes that interactions among systems are just as important as the individual systems themselves.

The Complex World As It Is

How does a geospatial digital twin create the conditions for this nuanced view?

First, by offering clarity of vision. From the time GIS first debuted over a half-century ago, the technology has pioneered the concept of digital twins.

The visual language of GIS is the map. Just as a paper map is, to varying degrees, “an analog twin,” many GIS-derived maps can be thought of as digital twins. GIS maps contain details about attributes, data can be traced to its source, and they transcend the static maps of the past.

GIS can produce realistic digital twins because the technology can now seamlessly integrate immersive 3D environments, including details obtained via drones and reality capture techniques.

Geospatial digital twins go further than 3D models by adding the dimension of time. Like the systems they mirror, digital twins evolve. By compiling information regarding the past and present, digital twins can be used to query what happened when and even what’s likely to happen based on past patterns. Advanced analytic techniques reveal trends and hotspots.

Prague, one of Europe’s fastest-growing cities, is using a digital twin to restore the connectivity of Florenc, a historic neighborhood, with the surrounding area and preserve its world heritage status.

No Two Twins Alike

As more people have grasped the potential power of geospatial digital twins, use cases have multiplied. It is now possible to speak of many categories of digital twin:

• Design and construction digital twins help manage complex infrastructure problems, while providing a through-line that connects the present with the future. In Brisbane, Australia, a digital twin aids in the construction of a new subway. The same twin also depicts areas above ground, so that the rail authority can track how the underground project impacts economic development above it. When the project is complete, the same twin will guide daily operations.
• Digital twins have become an indispensable tool for architects and urban planners. The technology helps them imagine and experiment with alternative scenarios without any disruptions to the real world. What would a proposed promenade look like, given current walking and pedestrian traffic in the region? How high should a bridge be, based on various climate change flooding scenarios?
• Digital twins of utilities networks provide a detailed physical view of systems that are often concealed from view. In the United Kingdom, the wireless provider Vodafone now uses a digital twin that covers 245,000 square kilometers of its network.
• Environmental digital twins have recently emerged as a way to understand ecosystems and how they function. Perhaps their most valuable attribute is the way they link natural systems with human-made systems, revealing how each affects the other.

The Common Denominators

The most exciting digital twin model to emerge in recent years attempts to combine all of the above into something that mirrors the complexity of entire cities, or even nations. Grenada, for example, has built an impressive country-level digital twin that helps the Caribbean nation understand and prepare for climate change.

The mirroring ability of digital twins can obscure qualities that are more prosaic, but no less powerful, than the ability to mirror dynamic systems.

Digital twins foster collaboration and communication. They provide a common view for stakeholders to understand how systems may evolve. And their visual intuitiveness is a way explain progress to communities, regulatory agencies, or anyone else who may be affected by evolving systems.

Finally, there is the power that has long made GIS an optimal way to organize spatial information.

The many data flows that comprise complex systems may originate from disparate sources. Oftentimes, the only thing these groups of data share is that they have a spatial component, a shared location. GIS-based digital twins honor this similarity while visually emphasizing it.

Geospatial digital twins offer something that approaches complete contextual awareness. By helping us visualize the cross-pollination of data flows, these digital twins connect abstract data with concrete experience. By answering the constantly shifting question of “where?”, geospatial digital twins offer the ultimate contextual understanding.

Learn more about how GIS creates digital twins of the natural and built environments.

This article originally appeared in the Esri Blog.

Greg Milner is a writer in the strategic content group at Esri, where he tells stories about how location intelligence is transforming our world and how we perceive it. A former magazine editor and political speechwriter, he is the author of the books “Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music” (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award) and “Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds.”. 

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• Gigi Chow spent years as a digital nomad before deciding to settle down in 2021.
• Because of the rising crime rate, she and her partner did not want to move to San Francisco in the long term.
• They traveled to Croatia to get a digital nomad visa, but Dubrovnik had its downsides.

This essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Gigi Chow, a digital nomad and former government agency manager. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2016, I quit my job as a manager at a government agency in San Francisco to travel. My friends and family were shocked that I had to give up a steady job and a steady paycheck.

My partner and I planned to travel for 18 months – as long as we could afford – and then settle back into San Francisco.

When we started traveling we fell in love with the nomadic lifestyle

From 2016 to 2021 we lived as nomads, visiting cities in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

To fund our journey, I became a consultant and contractor, doing freelance work like content marketing, copywriting, and ghostwriting. I have also recruited freelance staff.

My husband, who was previously a finance manager, transferred his skills and experience to managing private portfolios remotely.

When everything closed down in 2020 due to the pandemic, we were in Barcelona, ​​Spain and stayed there until things reopened. We returned to the US in 2021 to get married but had no plans to stay long term.

Rents in San Francisco had fallen slightly because of the pandemic. We started paying $2,200 for a one bedroom apartment. Despite finding a great deal, we were dying to leave.

San Francisco isn’t what it used to be

I grew up in San Francisco and my family lives there. There is nowhere to avoid homelessness, but San Francisco’s homeless problem has become overwhelming. I find it difficult to walk my dog. There are tents everywhere.

There is also a lot of crime. When we came back in 2021, car break-ins were so common that people were leaving notes on their windshields saying, ‘Please don’t break into this car. There is nothing of value here.”

After our marriage we traveled to South America for eight months before I returned to San Francisco to visit my parents.

I considered moving back to be closer to them, but the situation in town hadn’t improved. We were exhausted from constant travel and wanted to put down roots somewhere.

We considered where to move and decided on Dubrovnik in Croatia

We had already visited Dubrovnik twice, in 2016 and 2019. Many Croatians we met spoke English which was a big plus.

We knew that there is a digital nomad visa in Croatia. Expats I spoke to said that as long as you earn at least €2,300 a month, you can get a 12-month residency permit relatively easily.

Dubrovnik is a beautiful castle town of 41,000 people overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It’s a million dollar view without the million dollar price.

We wanted to test whether we would like to live there long-term

We arrived in March 2023 on a 3 month tourist visa. Being in Dubrovnik for so long was very different from staying as a tourist.

We found a short term furnished rental for $1,300 a month. It’s more expensive than a long-term furnished apartment, but it was a great size, including utilities and weekly housekeeping. In San Francisco, our total housing and utilities came to about $2,760.

Groceries in Croatia cost us about $1,500 a month. In San Francisco, our budget was at least $2,200.

Croatia is affordable and relaxing, but there are downsides too

I love the slower pace of Dubrovnik. It’s clean and we don’t need a car to get around. Since it’s a small place, people recognized me after a few weeks. I found that creepy.

San Francisco is so populated that everyone is free to go about their business. People move around and you’ll never know unless they’re new neighbors.

Dubrovnik is a tourist city. The local population is small and the families living there have been there for generations. Everyone knows everyone, so I really stand out.

I’m new but I’m also Asian. I have experienced what I call “unintentional racism”. I don’t think it’s malicious intent, but I’ve received comments and gestures.

People will ask me, “Where are you from?” After the answer, “I was born and raised in California,” the most common response is, “Oh, you don’t look American.” Then they mimic my stereotypical Asian eye shape. I have to explain that my parents are Chinese.

I’m not offended, but I figured I’d always felt accepted in San Francisco because it’s such a multicultural city, while Dubrovnik isn’t.

Sometimes when I walk my dog, the locals start talking to me in Chinese or Japanese. I think this is because they are more used to Asian tourists than Asian American tourists.

There seems to be a lack of awareness that America is a very diverse country. I’m just as American as someone of European descent.

Resident amenities are limited

Since I don’t really cook, restaurants are important to me. As a tourist I didn’t think about it, but as a resident I was surprised that the food was so expensive. That’s because many of the restaurants cater to tourists.

It’s not like traveling to Thailand, where the food, tourist or not, is good and cheap. A lot of the food I’ve eaten in Dubrovnik is prepared for a one-time visitor. Locals eat at home as it is too expensive to eat out.

I am traveling with my dog ​​Roger. This town is so small that there are only two childcare options for him. The veterinarian or animal hospital.

I’m used to googling “vets near me” and finding ten within a 2 mile radius. Then I can be selective and check reviews. But here’s the rule: take what you can get and hope for the best.

Get in touch with expats before you think about moving

If you are considering moving to Dubrovnik, I strongly recommend that you get in touch with the expat community first.

There are many Facebook and Instagram pages. Try to get in touch with people who are in a similar situation to you. They can give you a better sense of what to expect in the city. It’s more realistic than googling yourself.

I didn’t do it because I was here, but when you stay here longer it’s different. We will probably move to East Asia at the end of our three month stay and will not apply for the nomad visa.

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Twitter still needs to do more to comply with the European Union’s tough new digital rulebook, a senior EU official said after overseeing a “stress test” of the company’s systems in Silicon Valley.

EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said last week he noted Twitter’s “strong commitment to compliance” with the Digital Services Act, which sets new standards that all of the world’s largest online platforms will have to comply with in just two months.

However, “work must go on,” he said in a statement after discussing the results of the voluntary test with owner Elon Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.

Breton, who oversees digital policy, also meets with other tech bosses in California. He is the EU’s point of contact working to prepare Big Tech for the new rules that will force companies to crack down on hate speech, disinformation and other harmful and illegal material on their websites. The law comes into effect on August 25 for the largest platforms.

The Digital Services Act, along with proposed new data and artificial intelligence regulations, have put Brussels at the forefront of the growing global movement to fight tech giants.

The practice exercise tested Twitter’s readiness to comply with the requirements of the DSA, including protecting children online and detecting and mitigating risks such as disinformation, in both normal and extreme situations.

“Twitter takes the exercise seriously and has identified the key areas it needs to focus on to comply with the DSA,” Breton said, without giving further details. “Two months before the new EU regulation comes into force, work must continue so that the systems are in place and working effectively and quickly.”

Twitter’s Global Government Affairs team tweeted that the company was “on track to be ready when the DSA goes into effect.” Yaccarino tweeted, “Europe is very important to Twitter and we are focused on our continued partnership. “

Musk agreed in December to let the EU run the stress test the union offers to all tech companies before the rules come into effect. Breton said other online platforms would conduct their own stress tests in the coming weeks, but did not name them.

Despite Musk’s claims to the contrary, independent researchers have found that since the company was acquired by billionaire Tesla CEO last year, misinformation and hate speech has been circulating on Twitter. Musk has reinstated notorious election deniers, overhauled Twitter’s verification system and fired much of the staff responsible for moderating posts.

Last month, Breton warned Twitter that it “must not hide from its commitments” after the social media site abandoned the block’s voluntary “code of conduct” on online disinformation, which other social media platforms pledge to support have.

Combating disinformation is legally mandated by the Digital Services Act.

“When laws are passed, Twitter will abide by the laws,” Musk told France 2 TV this week when asked about the DSA.

Breton’s agenda on Friday includes discussions of the EU’s digital rules and upcoming artificial intelligence regulations with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company makes the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. But a briefing for journalists was canceled.

The DSA is part of a major overhaul of the EU’s digital rulebook designed to force tech companies to clean up their platforms and better protect users online.

European users of major technology platforms will find it easier to report illegal content, such as hate speech, and receive more information about why certain content has been recommended to them.

Violators face fines of up to 6% of annual global sales – which amounts to billions of dollars for some tech giants – or even an operating ban in the EU of 450 million consumers.

Breton also meets with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the dominant supplier of semiconductors for AI systems, to discuss the EU chips law to boost the continent’s chip manufacturing industry.

The EU, meanwhile, is putting the finishing touches on its AI law, the world’s first comprehensive set of rules for the new technology, which has sparked both fascination and fears that it could invade privacy, destroy jobs, violate copyright law and more.

Final approval is expected by the end of the year, but will not come into effect until two years later. Breton has proposed a voluntary “AI Pact” to help companies prepare for adoption.

Kelvin Chan is an AP business journalist

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Source: AdobeStock / Consulting

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, joining the growing ranks of public stakeholders around the world looking to jump on the Central Bank’s digital currency (CBDC) wagon, is seeking an experienced CBDC developer for a job posting titled “ Senior Application Architect – Digital”. Currency”.

The job posting states that those interested in applying for the position at the bank could earn up to $215,400 per year.

“As part of the Federal Reserve’s mission to promote accessible, secure, and efficient systems to facilitate dollar transactions, the Federal Reserve System is seeking a senior technologist to conduct research and development of central bank digital currencies,” the bank said in the ad and added

“Given the important role of the dollar, the Federal Reserve System is seeking to better understand the costs and benefits of potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) technologies and how the system can better understand this burgeoning field.”

The move comes shortly after the San Francisco Fed posted a job posting titled “Senior Application Developer – Digital Currency.” With ongoing efforts to form a CBDC-focused team, more vacancies could be posted soon.

The recent announcement states that the selected candidate will be “part of a team at the forefront of technological research and development in the central bank digital currency space” responsible for designing and implementing systems critical to CBDC research meaning are.

A completed bachelor’s degree with a focus on computer science, business informatics or a comparable technical subject or equivalent training and experience is expected. You must also demonstrate a track record of designing and managing digital payments, crypto and/or CBDCs. In addition to hands-on programming experience, the job posting requires candidates to have knowledge and experience in distributed systems design, cryptographic protocols such as zero-knowledge proofs, and consensus algorithms and security.

“The Senior Application Architect works directly with management, other developers on the team, development operations teams, and vendors to ensure the Federal Reserve is well-positioned to design, develop, and implement technology to support a CBDC as it may Board of Governors is required,” the bank said.

In this position, the selected individual will be tasked with creating and overseeing the architectural design of novel systems, as well as directing the efforts of responsible development teams, including internal and external team members, the job posting states.

It is worth noting for those willing to apply for the position that they must be US citizens or hold a green card with the intention of eventually becoming US citizens.

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SAN FRANCISCO — US agencies on Tuesday offered new details about how Chinese state-sponsored hackers have used publicly known vulnerabilities to target internet service providers and major telecommunications firms around the globe over the last two years.

Taking advantage of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) allows malicious actors backed by Beijing to break into victim accounts and network infrastructure — via a virtual private network or another public-facing application — “without using their own distinctive or identifying malware,” the FBI , the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an advisory.

The joint document is the latest effort by the federal government to inform the private sector about the scope of the digital threat posed by China and urge entities to take action to defend themselves.

Last week, FBI director Christopher Wray said China boasts “​​a bigger hacking program than all other nations combined,” warning that Chinese Communist Party leaders are studying the war in Ukraine for lessons about Taiwan. And last year, the US and Western allies attributed a massive assault targeting Microsoft Exchange servers to Chinese state actors.

“Businesses may understand that they’ve had intrusion, or they’ve stopped an attempted intrusion, but they often can’t weave together the pieces. This advisory is intended to bring together the pieces,” NSA Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce told The Record during a sit-down interview on the sidelines of the RSA conference.

The latest advisory details how hackers rely on compromised servers, or “hop points,” from China-based IP addresses in order to register and eventually gain access to email accounts, host command and control domains and otherwise interface with victimized networks.

After they have distanced themselves, state-linked actors go on to exploit infrastructure in internet providers and telecoms, as well as small home office and business routers manufactured by key industry providers, giving them the ability to target and attack at scale.

The perpetrators employ a variety of methods to hide their presence, bypass security features and configure victim networks to suit their needs, including pilfering data, enabling web shells for persistent access or routing data to infrastructure they themselves control.

“This work is building the foundation that they can do all of their objectives,” according to Joyce.

This is their plumbing.

not ‘holding back’

The technical advisory provides a list of the top 16 network devices most commonly used to propagate breaches, including three from telecom giant Cisco and four from data-storage hardware vendor QNAP.

However, it doesn’t name any threat actors or groups who have carried out intrusions or cite instances where the weaknesses were used to wreak havoc on a system or network.

Joyce said the agencies didn’t name specific offenses because it “doesn’t help you stop the tradecraft.”

“The intent here is to make sure that people understand how to recognize, and stop, that tradecraft,” he said. “We’ve got tradecraft that’s been going since at least 2020. We’re looking to break that cycle and we need the providers to understand that threat to break it. Knowing which APT number did it doesn’t help you break the cycle.”

Joyce also defended excluding past breaches, arguing that “some of the providers will recognize themselves inside” the laundry list of known vulnerabilities.

The advisory makes a number of suggestions to cauterize the weaknesses, including many of which have become staples of the government’s digital warnings — like keeping systems patched and updated, enabling multi-factor authentication and performing regular data backups.

Joyce insisted that the exposures cataloged in the document, all of which have been mitigated, represent a comprehensive accounting of known CVEs and that the government is not “holding back” about ongoing exploits or other potential security gaps.

The longtime NSA official also predicted how Beijing would react to the latest advisory.

“I am highly confident that they will yet again deny that they do this type of activity,” Joyce told The Record, noting Beijing has a “long track record” of conducting intrusions and massive digital espionage campaigns.

“We will continue to bring this pressure forward because it needs to stop,” he said.

Martin is a senior cybersecurity reporter for The Record. He spent the last five years at Politico, where he covered Congress, the Pentagon and the US intelligence community, and was a driving force behind the publication’s cybersecurity newsletter.

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PHILADELPHIA & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Comcast hosted a Digital Equity Summit in San Francisco. The gathering brought together more than 100 executives, program directors, community leaders, public officials, and other key stakeholders from around the Golden State working to close the digital divide and create digital equity. The goals of the summit were to highlight best practices; learn more about current and future needs of vulnerable communities; and identify challenges, solutions, and available funding resources. The summit also served as a moment to celebrate the work of Comcast’s valued digital equity partners across California, who worked throughout the pandemic to help drive Internet adoption and provide digital literacy training for those in need.

In addition, the company announced it has exceeded its expanded goal to launch 1,250 Lift Zones before the end of this year. Comcast’s award-winning Lift Zones program provides free WiFi access in neighborhood community centers nationwide. Since September 2020, Lift Zones have enabled nearly six million free WiFi user sessions for students, veterans, seniors, and adults.

According to a consumer survey of users who visited a Lift Zone:

• 4 in 10 report they would not have had Internet access without the Lift Zone.

• 50% of low-income households in major Comcast markets are within walking distance of a lift zone.

• 58% of Lift Zone users strongly believe that the site helps them achieve more.

• 58% report the Lift Zone reduces stress with studying, working remotely, and/or managing tasks online.

• 56% say the Lift Zone is critical for success at school, work, and/or managing tasks online.

• 92 percent of sites report that being a Lift Zone helps them increase digital equity in their communities.

The Lift Zones program is part of Comcast’s Project UP – a comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and build a future of unlimited possibilities. Backed by a $1 billion commitment, Project UP will help reach tens of millions of people with the skills, resources, and opportunities needed to succeed in a digital world.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity right now to help connect the unconnected,” said Broderick Johnson, EVP Digital Equity and EVP Public Policy, Comcast Corporation. “Working together between Comcast, our nonprofit partners, and the state and federal government, we will connect more households to the Internet and help even more people take advantage of critical resources such as the federal Affordable Connectivity Program and digital skills training.”

“Comcast’s continued partnership and dedication to our communities have resulted in allowing more students, children, seniors, and families to get connected to the Internet,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. “Public private partnerships like these allow us to ensure that all of our communities have access to services they need to thrive.”

Comcast’s Lift Zones were initially created in partnership with city leaders and nonprofit partners to help keep students connected to schools during the early stages of the pandemic. These digital navigators helped countless communities at a time when they needed it the most. Even as students return to their classrooms, Comcast continues to see strong demand for Lift Zones that serve underrepresented populations and offer an array of digital literacy programs, access to online healthcare services, workforce development training, and digital navigator support.

“Thanks to Comcast, we’ve been able to connect many of our families to the Internet with high-speed WiFi to support a dynamic learning environment for their children,” said Gloria Corral, President and CEO of Parent Institute for Quality Education. “Today’s Digital Equity Summit confirms Comcast’s commitment to the communities we serve. I am eager to see how today’s conversation will improve and help support the lives of the children and families.”

In addition to the Lift Zone program, which earlier this year won SXSW’s “People’s Choice Award,” Comcast is proud to participate in the Federal Government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). ACP provides eligible households with a $30/month subsidy that can be applied toward their Internet service. When used to pay for Comcast’s Internet Essentials service, home broadband Internet is effectively free.

Powered by a Comcast Business solution, the company has installed more than 150 Lift Zones across the state of California. To find a Lift Zone near you, please visit: https://internetessentials.com/learningsearchpage and for additional information on Project UP, please visit corporate.comcast.com/impact/project-up.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We are principally focused on connectivity, aggregation, and streaming with 57 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

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SAN FRANCISCO — US agencies on Tuesday offered new details about how Chinese state-sponsored hackers have used publicly known vulnerabilities to target internet service providers and major telecommunications firms around the globe over the last two years.

Taking advantage of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) allows malicious actors backed by Beijing to break into victim accounts and network infrastructure — via a virtual private network or another public-facing application — “without using their own distinctive or identifying malware,” the FBI , the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an advisory.

The joint document is the latest effort by the federal government to inform the private sector about the scope of the digital threat posed by China and urge entities to take action to defend themselves.

Last week, FBI director Christopher Wray said China boasts “​​a bigger hacking program than all other nations combined,” warning that Chinese Communist Party leaders are studying the war in Ukraine for lessons about Taiwan. And last year, the US and Western allies attributed a massive assault targeting Microsoft Exchange servers to Chinese state actors.

“Businesses may understand that they’ve had intrusion, or they’ve stopped an attempted intrusion, but they often can’t weave together the pieces. This advisory is intended to bring together the pieces,” NSA Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce told The Record during a sit-down interview on the sidelines of the RSA conference.

The latest advisory details how hackers rely on compromised servers, or “hop points,” from China-based IP addresses in order to register and eventually gain access to email accounts, host command and control domains and otherwise interface with victimized networks.

After they have distanced themselves, state-linked actors go on to exploit infrastructure in internet providers and telecoms, as well as small home office and business routers manufactured by key industry providers, giving them the ability to target and attack at scale.

The perpetrators employ a variety of methods to hide their presence, bypass security features and configure victim networks to suit their needs, including pilfering data, enabling web shells for persistent access or routing data to infrastructure they themselves control.

“This work is building the foundation that they can do all of their objectives,” according to Joyce.

This is their plumbing.

Not ‘holding back’

The technical advisory provides a list of the top 16 network devices most commonly used to propagate breaches, including three from telecom giant Cisco and four from data-storage hardware vendor QNAP.

However, it doesn’t name any threat actors or groups who have carried out intrusions or cite instances where the weaknesses were used to wreak havoc on a system or network.

Joyce said the agencies didn’t name specific offenses because it “doesn’t help you stop the tradecraft.”

“The intent here is to make sure that people understand how to recognize, and stop, that tradecraft,” he said. “We’ve got tradecraft that’s been going since at least 2020. We’re looking to break that cycle and we need the providers to understand that threat to break it. Knowing which APT number did it doesn’t help you break the cycle.”

Joyce also defended excluding past breaches, arguing that “some of the providers will recognize themselves inside” the laundry list of known vulnerabilities.

The advisory makes a number of suggestions to cauterize the weaknesses, including many of which have become staples of the government’s digital warnings — like keeping systems patched and updated, enabling multi-factor authentication and performing regular data backups.

Joyce insisted that the exposures cataloged in the document, all of which have been mitigated, represent a comprehensive accounting of known CVEs and that the government is not “holding back” about ongoing exploits or other potential security gaps.

The longtime NSA official also predicted how Beijing would react to the latest advisory.

“I am highly confident that they will yet again deny that they do this type of activity,” Joyce told The Record, noting Beijing has a “long track record” of conducting intrusions and massive digital espionage campaigns.

“We will continue to bring this pressure forward because it needs to stop,” he said.

Martin is a senior cybersecurity reporter for The Record. He spent the last five years at Politico, where he covered Congress, the Pentagon and the US intelligence community, and was a driving force behind the publication’s cybersecurity newsletter.

The post US businesses element the digital ‘plumbing’ utilized by Chinese language state-sponsored hackers appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO — US agencies on Tuesday offered new details about how Chinese state-sponsored hackers have used publicly known vulnerabilities to target internet service providers and major telecommunications firms around the globe over the last two years.

Taking advantage of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) allows malicious actors backed by Beijing to break into victim accounts and network infrastructure — via a virtual private network or another public-facing application — “without using their own distinctive or identifying malware,” the FBI , the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an advisory.

The joint document is the latest effort by the federal government to inform the private sector about the scope of the digital threat posed by China and urge entities to take action to defend themselves.

Last week, FBI director Christopher Wray said China boasts “​​a bigger hacking program than all other nations combined,” warning that Chinese Communist Party leaders are studying the war in Ukraine for lessons about Taiwan. And last year, the US and Western allies attributed a massive assault targeting Microsoft Exchange servers to Chinese state actors.

“Businesses may understand that they’ve had intrusion, or they’ve stopped an attempted intrusion, but they often can’t weave together the pieces. This advisory is intended to bring together the pieces,” NSA Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce told The Record during a sit-down interview on the sidelines of the RSA conference.

The latest advisory details how hackers rely on compromised servers, or “hop points,” from China-based IP addresses in order to register and eventually gain access to email accounts, host command and control domains and otherwise interface with victimized networks.

After they have distanced themselves, state-linked actors go on to exploit infrastructure in internet providers and telecoms, as well as small home office and business routers manufactured by key industry providers, giving them the ability to target and attack at scale.

The perpetrators employ a variety of methods to hide their presence, bypass security features and configure victim networks to suit their needs, including pilfering data, enabling web shells for persistent access or routing data to infrastructure they themselves control.

“This work is building the foundation that they can do all of their objectives,” according to Joyce.

This is their plumbing.

Not ‘holding back’

The technical advisory provides a list of the top 16 network devices most commonly used to propagate breaches, including three from telecom giant Cisco and four from data-storage hardware vendor QNAP.

However, it doesn’t name any threat actors or groups who have carried out intrusions or cite instances where the weaknesses were used to wreak havoc on a system or network.

Joyce said the agencies didn’t name specific offenses because it “doesn’t help you stop the tradecraft.”

“The intent here is to make sure that people understand how to recognize, and stop, that tradecraft,” he said. “We’ve got tradecraft that’s been going since at least 2020. We’re looking to break that cycle and we need the providers to understand that threat to break it. Knowing which APT number did it doesn’t help you break the cycle.”

Joyce also defended excluding past breaches, arguing that “some of the providers will recognize themselves inside” the laundry list of known vulnerabilities.

The advisory makes a number of suggestions to cauterize the weaknesses, including many of which have become staples of the government’s digital warnings — like keeping systems patched and updated, enabling multi-factor authentication and performing regular data backups.

Joyce insisted that the exposures cataloged in the document, all of which have been mitigated, represent a comprehensive accounting of known CVEs and that the government is not “holding back” about ongoing exploits or other potential security gaps.

The longtime NSA official also predicted how Beijing would react to the latest advisory.

“I am highly confident that they will yet again deny that they do this type of activity,” Joyce told The Record, noting Beijing has a “long track record” of conducting intrusions and massive digital espionage campaigns.

“We will continue to bring this pressure forward because it needs to stop,” he said.

Martin is a senior cybersecurity reporter for The Record. He spent the last five years at Politico, where he covered Congress, the Pentagon and the US intelligence community, and was a driving force behind the publication’s cybersecurity newsletter.

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Traditional finance and the “revolutionary youth movement” are, more and more, moving toward each other.

The “revolutionary youth movement” is the name given to the young entrepreneurs leading the charge in the digital and crypto worlds by Peter Thiel, the libertarian tech investor.

One of the latest examples of this has just opened its doors and combined the intelligence of the “revolutionary youth movement” with the resources of traditional finance.

The co-founder of the $13.0 billion financial-tech startup Plaid, Inc., and his wife, have recently acquired, and rebuilt, the traditional bank NorCal, re-named Column, and now have opened up a whole new approach to the ” new” fintech organization.

Speaking of youth, the acquirers of the bank William Hockey and Annie Hockey, are in their early 30s. Mr. Hockey cofounded Plaid during his senior year at Emory University.

“Plaid’s software bridged the gulf between banks and fintech apps, allowing companies to plug into banks accounts with consumers’ permission for the purpose of looking up balances and verifying other personal financial information.”

Today, more than 6,000 app makers are Plaid customers, including Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) and PayPal Holdings, Inc.’s (PYPL) Venmo.

The dilemma here is that almost every big fintech company has to rely on bank partners for regulated tasks.

The bigger banks are not interested in this business.

This leaves the business up to “community banks in far away places to do their financial grunt work.”

“Community banks tend to outsource their own technology to old-schooled software vendors whose digital offerings are limited and whose fees are often high.”

Not so for the hockeys.

The NewAge

The Hockeys team has developed its own banking platform.

They are totally responsible for the technology and the platform is customized with a direct connection to the Federal Reserve’s payments network.

The network has allowed them to sign up other fintech clients to bring even more activities to the bank.

“Everything that you can do at your bank, I want you to be able to do that with three lines of code,” states Mr. Hockey.

Plaid wasn’t and isn’t a bank.

Mr. Hockey left Plaid in 2019 but still serves on the board.

Mr. and Mrs. Hockey did their work and acquired the bank.

The bank had a “clean” balance sheet and was close to San Francisco.

The Hockeys wanted managers and employees to remain, as they divided the bank into two separate segments.

The Hockeys are co-CEOs with Ms. Hockey overseeing internal operations, legal, and compliance, with Mr. Hocky running technology, product development, and engineering. Mr. Hockey is the more “big picture” person. Ms. Hockey was formerly a consultant with Bain & Co.

The community bank continues to operate in Chico, California and the banking platform, which opens this week, is run out of San Francisco.

And, that is the way it goes.

The Financial World Is Changing

This is just another example of how the separate worlds are coming together.

Again, we see this transition taking place in many ways.

For another picture, look at how the young revolutionary Sam Bankman-Fried with his cryptocurrency exchange is talking with David Solomon and Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Bankman-Fried realizes that the young revolutionaries cannot do it all alone.

The young revolutionaries need to work with traditional finance. They need to talk with traditional finance. They need to combine with traditional finance.

And, the young revolutionaries need to bring in the legal wing to meld in with the traditional world.

Bring In The Lawyers

Here we find another example to help support our claim that the transition to the “new” world is really happening.

The article headline in the Wall Street Journal tells it all!

“Crypto Industry Can’t Hire Enough Lawyers.”

“Crypto exchanges and companies are poaching attorneys to help them navigate an evolving regulatory landscape”

“Crypto exchanges and companies are poaching attorneys left and right, from both law firms and other crypto companies, bringing them in-house to help navigate an evolving regulatory landscape while helping to curb outside legal expenses.”

“The increased demand for lawyers also marks a turning point for crypto, whose early supporters often expressed skepticism of regulation.”

“The industry has been expanding rapidly with hopes of attracting more mainstream investment opportunities and many are embracing the stance that they want regularity clarity.”

This, to me, is just another step on the way to bringing the new world about.

In the earliest stages, we generally always hear about how good it is to keep the government, the regulators, the intermediaries out. Let the markets do their thing.

Yet, as the technology progresses, people cheat on others, people use the technology of illicit purposes, and people just plain try and get away with things.

And, regulations and regulators have to restore the limits by which a society works and prospers.

The crucial thing is to achieve the right balance between free markets and regulators. And, I always like to err on the side of free markets.

The conclusion one can draw from all of this, however, is that the technology is here to stay and will continue to spread throughout the economy.

Back to Traditional Commercial Banking

The most encouraging thing about the movements I have reported on today is that the traditional commercial banking structure is being attacked.

Most commercial banks are too small.

Most commercial banks do not have the staff or the technology to fully operate in today’s world.

And, most commercial banks don’t even want to try to become “modern.”

I think that this is true of some of the bank regulators, as well.

The question has always been about how we are going to break into this fortress and bring the banking system into the 21st century.

The regulators don’t really seem to want to do it.

I’m not sure that Congress really wants to do it.

Therefore, economic forces must become strong enough to topple the structure piece-by-piece.

But, it really seems as if the time is here.

We have little or no idea of ​​what the future banking system is going to look like. We are still in the period of radical uncertainty.

We are moving, however, and history tells us that in all likelihood the movement will accelerate.

Let’s work with the transition and build the best banking system possible, given the current technology.

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mobilitie, a BAI Communications company, is partnering with Digital Realty, the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, to bring numerous data center locations on net with Mobilitie’s new high count fiber backbone installed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Initial data center connectivity will include 365 Main St. in San Francisco and 720 2nd St. in Oakland with additional data center connectivity planned through the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

“Mobilitie’s fiber network represents a massive expansion of connectivity throughout the Bay Area,” said Christos Karmis, CEO of Mobilitie. “We are looking forward to bringing additional connectivity into critical data centers and working with Digital Realty and local businesses to address their connectivity needs. The nearly 200 route miles of fiber backbone that Mobilitie is installing will also provide improved connectivity to mobile networks as well as enterprises with wireless, private networks, and edge computing needs.”

With more organizations moving applications and data to the cloud and interacting with their customers, vendors, and partners, reliable and high-speed connectivity is more critical than ever before. To address this need, Mobilitie is serving the fast-growing Bay area market with much needed incremental and diverse fiber options that provides thousands of businesses with improved high-speed and reliable connectivity, including access into multiple data center facilities. Mobilitie’s 200 route miles of fiber connectivity broke ground in June 2021, with the first segments already complete, including high count fiber running through the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District’s Transbay Tube connecting San Francisco and Oakland.

“With Mobilitie we continue the strategic expansion of PlatformDIGITAL®, Digital Realty’s first of its kind global data center platform for scaling digital business. The integration, specific to our data centers in the Bay Area – 365 Main St. and 720 2nd St. – forms part of our broader vision to establish a new era of open, secure and dynamically connected data communities in major hubs around the world, as outlined in the industry manifesto for open interconnection,” says Tony Bishop, SVP Enterprise, Platform & Solutions at Digital Realty.

For more information about how Mobilitie delivers next-generation connectivity, visit www.mobilitie.com.

About Mobility

Mobilitie, a BAI Communications company, is a leading telecommunications infrastructure company in the United States. A global provider of complete wireless solutions, our next-generation infrastructure includes communication towers, indoor and outdoor neutral host DAS networks, small cells, fiber, IoT, Wi-Fi and private networks which help deliver wireless connectivity where it is needed. Our engineers innovate solutions to improve wireless service at the largest and most complex venues across all major industries including sports and entertainment arenas, commercial real estate and hospitality properties, university campuses, healthcare facilities, government agencies and transportation terminals.

To learn more, visit www.mobilitie.com or www.baicommunications.com.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty supports the world’s leading enterprises and service providers by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a trusted foundation and proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for scaling digital business and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty’s global data center footprint gives customers access to the connected communities that matter to them with 289 facilities in 50 metros across 26 countries on six continents. For more information, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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