Everything evolves in the world of cybersecurity, including attacks. According to recent reports, Clearview AI, a facial recognition firm that has collected billions of photos of people around the world, has suffered a security incident that led to massive data breaches.
Among the compromised information are complete lists of the clients of the technology firm, among which are law enforcement agencies from various parts of the world, their search history and the number of accounts operated by each client.
A representative of the company states that the gigantic database where the firm stores all the photos it has collected has not been compromised during the incident: “While the security of this information is vital to us, these incidents of cybersecurity have become part of everyday life in the 21st century,” says Tor Ekeland, Clearview AI’s representative.
Although a couple of months ago the firm lacked notoriety, a report published in the New York Times made known to the world how Clearview AI collects information from the most widely used online platforms (Facebook, Twitter, among others) to fill its massive database.
According to cybersecurity specialists, some of Clearview’s most renowned clients include the FBI and some local investigative agencies in the US. This does not mean that the company is not criticized; there is even a lawsuit against him, filed in Illinois. The plaintiffs claim that Clearview’s methods seriously threaten the civil freedoms of American citizens. On the other hand, Twitter has sent a cease and desist notification to try stopping such data collection practices.
It should be remembered that people can ask the company to delete their photos from the database, although they must go through an identity verification process, sending a photo and identification document to Clearview.
Although Clearview’s justification is that its activity helps combat crime, the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) states that the effectiveness of this company is less than 75%, in addition, because of the database of the firm grows continuously, the percentage of accuracy will continue to decrease.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
