Tuesday☕️

Apr 9, 2024 • 4 min read

Trending:

Markets:

Jackson County Cyberattack:

Last week, in Jackson County, Missouri, officials detected disruptions in their IT systems, leading to speculation of a ransomware attack that has halted certain services and prompted the closure of key county offices. Among the systems affected are those responsible for tax payments, property transactions, marriage licenses, and inmate searches, necessitating the temporary shutdown of the Assessment, Collection, and Recorder of Deeds offices.
The county, home to Kansas City and over 654,000 residents, declared a state of emergency as announced by County Executive Frank White Jr. This declaration highlights the need for emergency funding to mitigate the impact of the attack, including protecting resident data and maintaining essential services. So far, there's no evidence of data breach, but the county is in the initial stages of its investigation, working with cybersecurity experts to pinpoint the cause of the disruptions.
This cybersecurity incident underscores the broader challenge of ransomware attacks, which have targeted hundreds of companies, and government entities across the U.S. this year alone. Jackson County's swift response includes involving law enforcement and hiring IT security specialists to address and recover from the attack. County officials have communicated the significance of the situation to residents, requesting patience as they work to restore normal operations and safeguard critical information.

Rabbit Partners With ElevenLabs:

Rabbit, in collaboration with ElevenLabs, is introducing voice command technology in its upcoming r1 devices, set for release next month after gaining attention at CES. The partnership enables the devices to process and respond to voice commands, aiming for a natural interaction experience, initially available in English.
Scheduled for shipment by the end of March, the r1 devices, priced at $199, will offer functionalities such as chat interaction, question answering via Perplexity AI, translation, and multimedia services directly from the device. The addition of ElevenLabs' technology is expected to enhance the user interface, making interactions smoother. Rabbit's integration of Perplexity AI’s solutions further expands the r1's capabilities.
ElevenLabs, specializing in voice cloning for various applications, including audiobooks and entertainment, secured $80 million in Series B funding. Their technology is also used by PocketFM for transforming written content into audio series, illustrating the growing demand for advanced voice technologies in content creation, device interaction, and artificial intelligence.

Statistic: