This week:
3 – The true cost of AI
2 – If you’ve recently received an email about European Trade Marks, it’s probably a scam.
1 – After 4 months and £300 million, M&S restores its online services
3 – The true cost of AI
“We’re building the infrastructure for superintelligence while some communities lose access to basic utilities”
Source: The Signal
What’s the story?
The Signal’s Alex Banks recently commented that even Meta can’t cover the significant costs of building AI infrastructure. According to Morgan Stanley, the costs will be over $300 billion 2025. Based on their financial analysis, this means the financial markets will need to fill the $1.5 trillion needed to complete all of the projects that have already been announced.
Aside from the financial costs, Alex also mentions the human cost. For example, a Meta data centre in Louisiana has resulted in local residents no longer having running water.
So what?
Data centres are a hot topic all over the world, including Ireland. While the debate in Ireland focuses on their impact on the electricity grid, this story is a reminder that they have an impact on lots of other resources too.
But let’s not allow the human and financial impact get in the way of all this progress towards super intelligence.
2 – Received an email about your European Trade Mark? It’s probably a scam.
“Scammers impersonate legitimate trade mark agents in sophisticated fraud campaign”
Source: Irish Independent
What’s the story?
According to the Irish Independent, businesses are receiving an increasing number of ‘urgent’ emails, warning them that someone else is attempting to register their business name as a trade mark with the European trade mark agency (the EU IPO). The emails suggest that if the business does not register their trade mark immediately, the trade mark will be assigned to someone else. To add legitimacy to the emails, they use the name of an Irish solicitor and business, even though neither have any involvement in the scam.
So what?
I’ve also recently heard from a number of clients about these emails. You should ignore them as it is unlikely that someone else is trying to register your name with the EU IPO. Alternatively, if you really are worried about this, consider registering your trade mark with the EU IPO directly to minimise the time and costs of trying to reclaim your trade mark in the future.
1 – After 4 months and £300 million, M&S restores its online services
“TCS, which has been servicing M&S for more than a decade, is also investigating whether it was the stepping stone to the attack.”
Source: TechRadar
What’s the story?
M&S has announced that all of their online services are back online after a cyber attack in April. The systems were offline for 4 months, and M&S has estimated the impact in this fiscal year will be GBP £300 million. While they expect to recoup some of that cost through insurance, they also plan another round of cost cutting throughout the organisation to make up for the shortfall.
This attack on M&S came at the same time as similar attacks on Harrods and Co-op, reportedly by a group called ‘Scattered Spider’. This report on TechRadar suggests a third party is currently investigating whether weaknesses in their security controls were used as a stepping stone in the attack.
So what?
Your security is not just about your technology.
It’s also about your organisation – e.g, Your governance, risk management, policies, processes, roles and responsibilities.
And it’s also about your third parties.
[If you’re not sure that you’ve got a full view on your organisation’s security, I can help.]