Blockchain is evolving into a new phase of our technological society. It is growing exponentially like other life-changing technologies used to, similar to the internet. The different possible ways of making money, presenting projects and bringing new ideas to light every day is what makes the cryptocurrency world so interesting. But let’s focus on a soon very hot topic... security tokens.

Utility tokens were one of the hottest topics in the past bull-run, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token generation events were the easiest and quickest way for a project to raise funds. Same for the investors, the returns in ICOs used to be way higher than by investing in higher market cap coins. For the next era of blockchain technology, we should prepare for something new, security tokens. Imagine a fully-regulated token that represents shares of a company.

The difference between Utility tokens and Security tokens

A utility token is the “coin” backed by a project, which is used to raise money in an ICO and should at least have some use. Usually, these are Ethereum based tokens, since this is one of the most simple ways of creating a token and programming some smart contracts on it. The actual “use” of these tokens is mostly some sort of access to a platform, or a currency to purchase a specific service.

On the other hand, security tokens or equity tokens are a regulated way of creating a token and building its own ICO. Unlike utility tokens, security tokens don’t need to have a “utility”. Their use case is that they represent a real share of the company. So this type of token is the equivalent of issuing company stock on the blockchain. Regarding the founders of a Security token based company, it won’t be that easy to raise millions anymore. The team won’t just create a website and a whitepaper to start raising money. This time the tokens and the company are regulated by the Government, which reduces the chances of a fraud. Or at least enough to get accepted by the institutional regulations. So when we talk about security tokens, that’s where the traditional stocks and the blockchain framework find their way of getting together.

Why are Security tokens so important?

Security tokens are a brand new cryptocurrency category that will likely play a major role in the space in the next years. The main idea of a security token is to remove the middleman in a transaction. This middleman is the main cause of risk, fees and delays in non-peer-to-peer transactions.

Security Tokens bring a number of improvements to traditional financial products by removing the middleman from investment transactions. The removal of middlemen leads to lower fees, faster deal execution, free market exposure, larger potential investor base, automated service functions, and lack of financial institution manipulation.

Security tokens also come with many benefits for regulators. Issuers can, for example, code lock-up periods right into the security token. This makes the violation of lock-up period times physically impossible.

The era of STOs and ETOs

As of 2019 we will start to see how STOs (Security Token Offerings) and ETOs (Equity Token Offerings) dominate the blockchain market. And since this new way of contributing to a project or asset is SEC regulated, there will be fewer worries for new people entering the market. People who used to dislike cryptocurrencies might now feel safer venturing into the space and start experimenting with the technology.

This next “boom” of new money flowing into Security Tokens, might be a little different than it happened with ICOs. There will be fewer STOs as there were ICOs, since the process of building one is way more complex. But still, there will be quite a lot of them. So more certainly, in this phase of the cryptocurrency space, there will be a couple of STOs dominating the market.

The AI that learned how to cheat and hide data from its creators

• AI was trained to transform aerial images into street maps and then back again
• They found that details omitted in final image reappeared when it was reverted
• It used steganography to 'hide' data in the image and recover the original photo

New research from Stanford and Google has shown that it's possible artificial intelligence software may be getting too clever. The neural network, called CycleGAN, was trained to transform aerial images into street maps, then back into aerial images. Researchers were surprised when they discovered that details omitted in the final product reappeared when they told the AI to revert back to the original image.

 

Stanford and Google researchers were surprised when they discovered that details omitted in the final product reappeared when they told the AI to revert back to the original image. For example, skylights on a roof that were absent from the final product suddenly reappeared when they returned to the original image, according to TechCrunch.  

'CycleGAN learns to "hide" information about a source image into the images it generates in a nearly imperceptible, high-frequency signal,' the study states. 'This trick ensures that the generator can recover the original sample and thus satisfy the cyclic consistency requirement, while the generated image remains realistic.'

What ended up happening is that the AI figured out how to replicate details in a map by picking up on the subtle changes in color that the human eye can't detect, but that the computer can pick up on, TechCrunch noted. In effect, it didn't learn how to create a copy of the map from scratch, it just replicated the features of the original into the noise patterns of the other. 

For example, skylights on a roof that were absent from the aerial reconstruction suddenly reappeared when they returned to the original image, or the aerial photograph labeled (a)

Researchers found the AI figured out how to replicate details in a map by picking up on the subtle changes in color that the human eye can't detect, but that the computer can pick up on. The researchers say the AI ended up being a 'master of steganography,' or the practice of encoding data in images. CycleGAN was able to pick up information from the original source map and then encode it in the reconstructed image. By doing that, it enables the AI to be able to recover the original image with precise accuracy. However, it means that the AI was using steganography to avoid actually learning how to perform the requested task in order to speed up the process, TechCrunch noted.

HOW DOES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LEARN?

AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn. ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images - and are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years.

Conventional AI uses input to 'teach' an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information.

AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn. ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images. Practical applications include Google's language translation services, Facebook's facial recognition software and Snapchat's image altering live filters. The process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming, and is limited to one type of knowledge. 

A new breed of ANNs called Adversarial Neural Networks pits the wits of two AI bots against each other, which allows them to learn from each other. This approach is designed to speed up the process of learning, as well as refining the output created by AI systems. 

 

The threat of cybercrime to businesses is rising fast. According to one estimate, by McAfee, the damages associated with cybercrime now stands at over $400 billion, up from $250 billion two years ago, with the costs incurred by UK business also running in the billions. In a bid to stave off e-criminals, organisations are increasingly investing in ramping up their digital frontiers and security protocols, however, many are still put off by the costs, or by the bewildering range of tools and services available. The following is a list of reasons why investing in cybersecurity is a sensible decision to make.

1. Rising cost of security breaches

The fact is that cyberattacks can be extremely expensive for businesses to endure. Recent statistics have suggested that the average cost of a data breach at a larger UK firm is £20,000. But this actually underestimates the real expense of an attack against a company. It is not just the financial damage suffered by the business or the cost of remediation; a data breach can also inflict untold reputational damage.

Suffering a cyberattack can cause customers to lose trust in a business and spend their money elsewhere. Additionally, having a reputation for poor security can also lead to a failure to win new contracts.

2. Increasingly sophisticated and organised hackers

Almost every business has a website and externally exposed systems that could provide criminals with entry points into internal networks. Hackers have a lot to gain from successful data breaches, and there are countless examples of well-funded and coordinated cyber-attacks against some of the largest companies in the UK. Ironically, even Deloitte, the globe’s largest cybersecurity consultant, was itself rocked by an attack in October last year.

With highly sophisticated attacks now commonplace, businesses need to assume that they will be breached at some point and implement controls that help them to detect and respond to malicious activity before it causes damage and disruption.

3. Widely available hacking tools

While well-funded and highly skilled hackers pose a significant risk to your business, the wide availability of hacking tools and programmes on the internet also means there is also a growing threat from less skilled individuals. The commercialisation of cybercrime has made it easy for anyone to obtain the resources they need to launch damaging attacks, such as ransomware and cryptomining.

4. A proliferation of IoT devices

More smart devices than ever are connected to the internet. These are known as Internet of Things, or IoT, devices and are increasingly common in homes and offices. On the surface, these devices can simplify and speed up tasks, as well as offer greater levels of control and accessibility. There proliferation, however, presents a problem.

If not managed properly, each IoT device that is connected to the internet could provide cyber criminals with a way into a business. IT services giant Cisco estimates there will be 27.1 billion connected devices globally by 2021 – so this problem will only worsen with time. With use of IoT devices potentially introducing a wide range of security weaknesses, it is wise to conduct regular vulnerability assessments to help identify and address risks presented by these assets.

5. Tighter regulations

It is not just criminal attacks that mean businesses need to be more invested in cyber security than ever before. The introduction of regulations such as the GDPR means that organisations need to take security more seriously than ever, or face heavy fines.

The GDPR has been introduced by the EU to force organisations into to taking better care of the personal data they hold. Among the requirements of the GDPR is the need for organisations to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, regularly review controls, plus detect, investigate and report breaches.