Govt plans to use AI tools for digital forensics. The government is planning to use artificial intelligence-based tools for a digital forensics project currently underway at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), said a report in The Economic Times.

The report said that the C-DAC is planning to use artificial intelligence to look out for threats before they breach systems and track hackers to stop repeated breaches. The digital forensics arm of the C-DAC will help small and medium firms roll out commercial solutions for cyber threats, it added.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had, in last year’s budget speech, said that the C-DAC, in collaboration with Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), would look to develop tools to tackle cybersecurity issues. He had also said that CERTs for different sectors, especially the financial sector, were being contemplated.

After Jaitley’s speech, Union minister for electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that the C-DAC was working on digital forensics, a branch of forensic science that deals with recovering and analysing information from data storage devices including computers, phones and networks.

The report said that the digital forensics project has a budget of Rs 3.95 crore and that, apart from the C-DAC, the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna will also be involved in its implementation.

The report cited a senior government official as saying that the project will help the C-DAC research on cybersecurity for two years before starting out training programmes for government officials in the field.

The Indian government has taken a number of initiatives in recent years to boost cybersecurity.

Last month, the government said its botnet malware apps had reduced infections in the country by at least 51% after their launch on the web and the Google Play Store in February 2017.

The government had launched the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) under CERT-In in February last year. The government had also launched apps such as AppSamvid, USB Pratirodh and M-Kavach on Google Play Store and on the web to help detect and remove botnet malware, in the same period.

Reference: http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2018/02/15/govt-plans-to-use-ai-tools-for-digital-forensics-report

There are many more possible moves in a Go game than a chess match

Google’s DeepMind says it has made another big advance in artificial intelligence by getting a machine to master the Chinese game of Go without help from human players.

The AlphaGo program, devised by the tech giant’s AI division, has already beaten two of the world’s best players.

It had started by learning from thousands of games played by humans.

But the new AlphaGo Zero began with a blank Go board and no data apart from the rules, and then played itself.

Within 72 hours it was good enough to beat the original program by 100 games to zero.

DeepMind’s chief executive, Demis Hassabis, said the system could now have more general applications in scientific research.

“We’re quite excited because we think this is now good enough to make some real progress on some real problems even though we’re obviously a long way from full AI,” he told the BBC and other journalists.

The London-based artificial intelligence company’s software defeated leading South Korean Go player Lee Se-dol by four games to one last year.

In a game where there are more possible legal board positions than there are atoms in the universe, it was a triumph for machine over man and one that came much earlier than many in the AI world had expected.

AlphaGo followed this with the defeat of the world’s number one Go player, China’s Ke Jie, in May.

As with many advances in this field, the achievements required the combination of vast amounts of data – in this case records of thousands of games – and a lot of computer-processing power.

David Silver, who led that effort, says the team took a very different approach with AlphaGo Zero.

“The new version starts from a neural network that knows nothing at all about the game of Go,” he explained.

“The only knowledge it has is the rules of the game. Apart from that, it figures everything out just by playing games against itself.”

What is Go?

Go is thought to date back to ancient China, several thousand years ago.

Using black and white stones on a grid, players gain the upper hand by surrounding their opponents’ pieces with their own.

The rules are simpler than those of chess, but a player typically has a choice of 200 moves at most points in the game, compared with about 20 in chess.

It can be very difficult to determine who is winning, and many of the top human players rely on instinct.

This has turned out to be far more efficient way of addressing the problem.

Whereas AlphaGo took months to get to the point where it could take on a professional, AlphaGo Zero got there in just three days, using a fraction of the processing power.

“It shows it’s the novel algorithms that count, not the compute power or the data,” says Mr Silver.

He enthuses about an idea some may find rather scary – that in just a few days a machine has surpassed the knowledge of this game acquired by humanity over thousands of years.

“We’ve actually removed the constraints of human knowledge and it’s able, therefore, to create knowledge itself from first principles, from a blank slate,” he said.

Image copyright Moxie Pictures Image caption Google DeepMind’s defeat of champion Go player Lee Se-dol has been made into a documentary

Whereas earlier versions quickly learned from and improved upon human strategies, AlphaGo Zero developed techniques which the professional player who advised DeepMind said he had never seen before.

Many of the team have now moved on to new projects where they are trying to take this technique to new areas. Demis Hassabis mentions drug design and the discovery of new materials as areas of interest.

Whereas some see a threat from AI, he looks ahead with optimism.

“I hope these kind of algorithms will be routinely working with us as scientific experts medical experts on advancing the frontiers of science and medicine – that’s what I hope,” he says.

But he and his colleagues are cautious about how rapidly we will see the wider application of these AI techniques – a game with clear rules and no element of luck is one thing, the messy, random, unpredictable real world quite another.

We need to keep a close eye on the ethical dilemmas involved in developing a machine that, by some definitions, can think for itself – especially when it is controlled by a giant like Google.

But for now, there are few signs that AlphaGo Zero and its ilk will either steal our jobs or threaten to make humanity obsolete.

Reference: BBC news

With a General Election and Brexit on the horizon, a new report shows worrying skills shortages in the engineering, IT and care work industries. Insights explain how apprenticeships can help employers find the best talent

A chronic lack of skills and an ineffective education system are threatening to harm the UK’s growth and competitiveness as the nation secures its exit from European Union membership, according to new research from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REV)  Apprenticeships can be the answer.

The report showed employers in the UK are struggling to fill vacancies after the sharpest drop for more than a year in the number of available candidates.

The REC said its latest monthly snapshot of the jobs market found vacancies continued to rise in April for permanent and temporary staff, albeit at a softer pace than in March, reaching their weakest levels for 16 months.

Firms are reporting skills shortages across a range of more than 60 roles, including engineers, IT specialists, care workers and accountants.

This is understandably a cause for concern for many employers and recruiters. Currently, many companies are hiring people from EU nations to fill the skills gap, but once the UK leaves the bloc, it is likely there may be greater restrictions on immigrants moving to Britain.

Compiled by consultancy IHS Markit using data from 400 recruitment firms, the REC study found demand for staff rose sharply across the private sector in April, but declined across the public sector.

Interestingly, employers are seemingly finding it easier to find contractors, rather than permanent staffers. In April, the pace of expansion for temporary placements was the fastest since December, but there was also a slowdown in the number of people placed into permanent roles.

REC chief executive Kevin Green says bosses are increasingly worried about government investment in training and career advice and future access to economic migrants.

“Demand for staff is growing within all sectors and all regions of the UK, but there are fewer and fewer people available to fill the vacancies,” he said. “We have the lowest unemployment rate since 2005 and people already in work are becoming more hesitant about moving jobs amid Brexit uncertainty.

“Meanwhile, the weakening pound and lack of clarity about future immigration rules is putting off some EU nationals from taking up roles in the UK.”

Apprenticeships, filling the gap

With new innovative businesses and enterprises created each year in fast-growing industries such as IT and engineering, high level modern apprenticeships have proven to be important initiatives for SMEs and blue chip businesses for developing young talent with the cutting-edge skills they demand most in their industry.

CMI director of strategy Petra Wilton said apprenticeships will be necessary for employers to build for growth in the coming years.

“Investment in high-quality apprenticeships will be a crucial step in tackling the UK’s crippling professional skills crisis highlighted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s study,” she said. “As we head towards Brexit, we’ll need an internationally competitive economy built on world-class skills. The Apprenticeship Levy is now there for the taking, giving employers the means to invest in developing home-grown talent.

“According to employers, 65% of current graduates do not have the management skills they’re looking for. Investing in management apprenticeships will provide school leavers and existing workers alike with the hands-on, practical experience needed to gain those management and leadership capabilities.

http://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2017/may/uk-skills-shortage-apprenticeships-can-be-the-answer

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