Penn State Launches AI Literacy Workshops for Engineering Students

Key Takeaways

• <ul><li>Penn State launches AI literacy workshops for first-year engineering students</li><li>UT Arlington students build VR tool using AI for police de-escalation training</li><li>26,400 cloud and AI credentials exposed on Chinese platform Gitee</li><li>North Korean hackers expand AI use across cyber attack operations</li><li>Experian prioritizes infrastructure resilience and access controls for AI systems</li><li>Cybersecurity experts deploy AI to find bugs in election infrastructure</li><li>Cornell launches research initiative on AI's societal impact</li><li>ST achieves 99% accuracy in fall detection on edge AI wearables</li></ul>

Penn State summer programs teach AI literacy to new engineering students

Penn State launched new Lunch and Learn workshops in its Engineering Summer Bridge program to build AI literacy among incoming first-year students. The six-week program includes weekly lectures on AI development and deployment, where students design solutions for disaster response. A separate four-day program called MEPO also uses a custom chatbot built with the THiCC Lab to help students with a design competition. The goal is to prepare students for future coursework and careers by combining AI knowledge with social sciences and humanities.

UT Arlington students build AI training tool for police de-escalation

University of Texas at Arlington students are developing a virtual reality training tool that uses AI to help police officers practice de-escalation techniques. The technology places officers in simulated scenarios where an AI model responds to their words as if they are talking to a person in crisis. The team has created five scenarios with varying difficulty levels. The tool aims to help officers prepare for real encounters while reducing the resources needed for traditional training exercises.

Steps to protect against new wave of AI-powered security hacks

Recent headlines have revealed massive and easily exploitable security vulnerabilities in the internet's core infrastructure, raising concerns about a new wave of AI-powered hacks. The article advises readers to take immediate steps to protect themselves from these emerging threats. Security experts warn that these vulnerabilities could be widely exploited if left unaddressed. The piece serves as a guide for understanding and responding to the growing risks posed by AI-related security breaches.

Cybersecurity experts use AI to find bugs in election infrastructure

Cybersecurity experts are using artificial intelligence to help secure election infrastructure across the country. In one case, AI was used to identify a bug in a logistics system used by an independent election information agency. The approach demonstrates how AI tools can help detect vulnerabilities that might otherwise be missed. The effort aims to strengthen the security of systems critical to democratic processes.

26,400 cloud and AI credentials found exposed on Chinese code platform

Researcher Ben Zimmermann found 26,400 working credentials left exposed in public repositories on Gitee, a Chinese code-hosting service. He scanned 7.25 million public repositories over about a month using two secret scanners called TruffleHog and Kingfisher. The exposed credentials included Alibaba Cloud keys, YouTube API keys, DeepSeek keys, and OpenAI keys among others. Experts recommend revoking any credential that was ever pushed to a public repository and rotating keys immediately to prevent unauthorized use.

Cornell launches AI and society research initiative

A new program in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell will study how AI affects society and the humanities. The initiative will bring together scholars to examine AI's impact on culture, ethics, governance, communication, creativity, labor, and social organization. It will also partner with external groups to address challenges and opportunities from AI.

North Korean hackers expand AI use in cyber attacks

Microsoft Threat Intelligence found that North Korean threat actors are increasingly using AI in their operations. Groups like Jade Sleet, Coral Sleet, and Jasper Sleet use AI across research, social engineering, malware development, and identity deception. Microsoft assesses overall AI adoption as high and provides mitigation guidance and Defender detections to help organizations defend against these threats.

ST and Snapdragon Wear Elite advance edge AI wearables

ST developed three AI applications on the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform using the LSM6DSV32X IMU: walking speed estimation, worn/not worn detection, and fall detection. The worn/not worn algorithm achieved 95% accuracy without user calibration. The fall detection solution reached 99% accuracy on unseen data while consuming only 15 uA of power.

Experian strengthens cyber resiliency for AI systems

Experian built its AI strategy around infrastructure resilience and cyber recovery. The company emphasizes that access controls, not just backups, protect AI systems. Experian sets AI-specific recovery goals, tests recovery through scheduled drills, and applies least privilege to AI services with frequent credential rotation and real-time monitoring.

Sources

• Incoming first-year students build AI literacy in summer engineering programs
• UT Arlington students create AI tool for police training
• Analysis | Worried about a new wave of AI hacks? Take these steps right now.
• Cybersecurity experts are using AI to help secure election infrastructure
• 26,400 Valid Cloud and AI Credentials Found Exposed in Public Gitee Repositories
• New initiative will explore AI’s role in society, humanities
• Tracking AI adoption in North Korean threat actor tradecraft
• The 1st ST applications on the Snapdragon Wear Elite eNPU shape future products thanks to AI expertise and LSM6DSV32X IMU
• Cyber resiliency frameworks for enterprise AI infrastructure