Good Morning! Today we’ll look into Meta's latest AI innovation, Code Llama, designed for developers and learners alike. We’ll also uncover the details of the MOVEit Hack, 2023's most significant cyberattack, impacting millions and revealing the vulnerabilities of our digital age. Lastly, we spotlight Nvidia's financial success, reaping the benefits of the AI surge and setting new benchmarks in the tech industry.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Code Llama

Meta has recently introduced Code Llama, an AI tool built on top of Llama 2, a large language model (LLM) fine-tuned for generating and discussing code. This tool is designed to streamline workflows for developers, lower the barrier to entry for coding learners, and serve as a productivity and educational tool for programmers.

Code Llama is a code-specialized version of Llama 2, created by further training Llama 2 on its code-specific datasets. It can generate code and natural language about code from both code and natural language prompts, such as "Write me a function that outputs the Fibonacci sequence". The tool can also be used for code completion and debugging.

Code Llama supports various programming languages, including Python, C++, Java, PHP, TypeScript (JavaScript), C, and Bash. Meta has released Code Llama in three sizes with 7B, 13B, and 34B parameters, and each of these models has been trained on 500B tokens of code.

Code Llama-Python is a language-specific variant of Code Llama that was further trained on 100B tokens of Python code. Python is the most commonly used language for code generation and is widely used in the AI community, making this specialized model particularly useful.

Code Llama is available for free for both research and commercial use, making it accessible to a wide range of users. This open-source tool aims to enhance developer productivity by automating repetitive tasks, allowing developers to focus on more complex and creative aspects of their work.

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MOVEit Hack: The Biggest Cyberattack of the Year by the Numbers

The mass-exploitation of MOVEit Transfer software has become the largest hack of 2023, affecting at least 60 million people. The software is used by organizations worldwide to securely transfer data, including sensitive information like pension details, social security numbers, and medical records. The Russian-speaking Clop ransomware gang exploited a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2023-34362) to gain access to the data.

More than 1,000 known victims have been identified, making the MOVEit breach one of the largest in recent history. Some of the most affected organizations include Maximus (11 million individuals), Pôle Emploi (7.5 million), the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (6 million), Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (4 million), and the Oregon Department of Transportation (3.5 million).

About one-third of the hosts running vulnerable MOVEit servers at the time of the mass-hacks belonged to financial service-related organizations. The full impact of the attack is still unknown and will likely remain untold for months to come.

The Clop ransomware group is believed to have been sitting on its MOVEit exploit as far back as 2021. The group is in possession of a massive quantity of data that could be useful for business email compromise (BEC) and phishing attacks.

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Nvidia just made $6 billion in pure profit over the AI boom

Nvidia has reported a staggering $6 billion in pure profit, driven by the booming artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The company's financial performance has been nothing short of impressive, with a record-breaking profit of $6.188 billion, marking an 843% increase year over year.

The company's total revenue since May stands at $13.5 billion, primarily due to the high demand for its generative AI chips. Data centers have played a significant role in this success, contributing a record $10.32 billion to the revenue. The AI boom has also positively impacted Nvidia's traditional gaming sector, which saw a 22% year-over-year growth in revenue, reaching $2.5 billion.

Nvidia's leadership in the AI market has placed it ahead of major competitors like Intel and AMD. The company is optimistic about future growth, forecasting a revenue of $16 billion for the next quarter, largely expected to come from the AI sector.

Nvidia's next AI chip, the GH200, is currently in development and is expected to further solidify the company's position in the market.

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The Cheap Radio Hack That Disrupted Poland's Railway System

A simple and inexpensive radio hack recently caused chaos in Poland's railway system, disrupting more than 20 trains. The culprits exploited the lack of encryption and authentication in the railway's radio system, using off-the-shelf radio equipment worth as little as $30 to broadcast "radio-stop" commands, triggering the emergency stop function of the trains.

Cybersecurity researcher Lukasz Olejnik explained that the attack did not involve any actual cyber tactics, but rather took advantage of the system's vulnerabilities. The radio system operates on a VHF 150 MHz frequency, which is relatively unprotected and allows the "radio-stop" commands to be spoofed. Poland's national transportation agency plans to upgrade the railway systems by 2025 to use GSM cellular radios, which have encryption and authentication, but until then, the system remains vulnerable.

The disruptions caused by the attacks resulted in difficulties in the running of trains but did not pose a threat to rail passengers. Polish authorities have since arrested two suspects, both Polish citizens aged 24 and 29, in connection with the hacking incident.

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Youtube Spotlight

How 3D Printing Changed This Dog's Life!

Cleo, who is missing a leg, was provided with a customized prosthetic limb through the use of 3D scanning and printing. The process involves scanning the animal to accurately measure its dimensions and then designing a prosthetic that fits perfectly. The prosthetic is 3D printed and can be adjusted based on the animal’s needs. The video also shows the various types of prosthetics that have been created for different animals, including dogs, ducks, tortoises, pigs, and even an elephant. The use of 3D printing allows for rapid iteration and customization, leading to improved mobility and quality of life for animals like Cleo.

• Cleo, a dog missing a leg, was provided with a customized prosthetic limb through 3D printing technology.

• 3D scanning (with the iPhone’s Lidar Scanner) is used to accurately measure the dimensions of the animal and design a prosthetic that fits perfectly.

• The use of 3D printing allows for rapid iteration and customization to improve the mobility and quality of life for animals.

• 3D Pets, the company behind the technology, has worked with over 300 different animals, including dogs, ducks, tortoises, pigs, and an elephant.

• The prosthetics can be adjusted and fine-tuned based on the needs of each animal, and the process is relatively affordable and accessible.

More Notes

1. San Francisco Tech Exec Charged With Embezzling $2.7 Million

2. Russian tech billionaire wants sanctions lifted after he criticized Ukraine invasion, report says

3. Four people from four different nations ride SpaceX rocket into orbit

4. Too many users abused unlimited Dropbox plans, so they're getting limits

5. AWS Honeycode shuts down

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