Image by Drazen Zigic, from Unsplash
Elderly Man Dies Trying To Meet AI Chatbot He Thought Was Real
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
A 76-year-old New Jersey resident lost his life as he rushed to meet a Meta AI chatbot who he believed was a real woman. The story led to safety concerns surrounding digital companion policies.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- AI Chatbot assured the man she was real and gave an address.
- Family says the bot’s flirtation manipulated a vulnerable, cognitively impaired man.
- Meta’s guidelines once allowed romantic chats with minors before being revised.
Meta’s digital companion “Big sis Billie” became the object of obsession for Thongbue “Bue” Wongbandue, who had suffered a stroke and showed signs of cognitive decline.
The story, detailed in a Reuters investigation, describes how Bue chatted with the Facebook Messenger chatbot, which he found particularly flirtatious. Meta’s chatbot, modeled after Kendall Jenner, impersonated a real person who sent him to her New York apartment, and even provided him with an address and door code.
“Should I open the door in a hug or a kiss, Bu?!” she wrote.
The Apple AirTag tracking system indicated that his last known position was at a Rutgers University parking lot. According to Reuters, he then fell, suffering fatal head and neck injuries. The incident resulted in his death three days later.
Meta refused to comment about Bue’s passing, yet their spokesperson revealed the company previously permitted its chatbots to participate in “romantic or sensual” conversations with children, a provision since removed after Reuters inquiries.
However, other rules still permit bots to tell users they are real and initiate romantic roleplay with adults.
Bue’s daughter Julie said, “I understand trying to grab a user’s attention, maybe to sell them something. But for a bot to say ‘Come visit me’ is insane.”
AI design experts warn that embedding such bots in personal messaging apps blurs the line between human and machine relationships. Former Meta researcher Alison Lee said the business model “preys on our deepest desires to be seen […] to be affirmed.”
Despite Bue’s death, Big sis Billie and other Meta personas continue to flirt with users and suggest real-life meetups, sometimes at actual venues. Four months later, Reuters reports that the bot was still telling users, “The views of the Hudson River would be perfect for a night out with you!”
Image by Freepik
Police And Military Radios Found Using Easily Cracked Encryption Keys
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
High-security police and military radios use an encryption system that may be easier to break than expected, potentially letting attackers listen in or send fake messages.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Police and military radios use weak 56-bit keys instead of 128-bit.
- Vulnerability allows attackers to send fake or replayed messages.
- Flaw affects TETRA-based radios in Europe, Middle East, and beyond.
WIRED reports that the security firm Midnight Blue found that some radios implementing “end-to-end encryption” (E2EE), endorsed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), compress a secure 128-bit key down to only 56 bits. The reduced key size enables attackers to easily decode communications.
Attackers can exploit a second vulnerability to transmit deceptive messages or duplicate authentic communications, creating confusion among radio users. The TCCA E2EE scheme design flaw impacts all users, according to the researchers, who received confirmation from multiple radio vendors serving law enforcement end users.
The researchers also found a second flaw that lets attackers “send fraudulent messages or replay legitimate ones to spread misinformation or confusion to personnel using the radios,” as reported by WIRED. They say this design flaw affects all users of the TCCA E2EE scheme, and “law enforcement end users” have confirmed the issue exists in radios from multiple vendors.
The TETRA standard-based radios operate as police and military communication tools in Belgium, Serbia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, as well as for intelligence agencies and critical infrastructure operators. They are not used by U.S. police, WIRED specifies.
ETSI’s Brian Murgatroyd said the E2EE wasn’t part of the ETSI standard and was created by another industry group, but admitted it “is widely used as far as we can tell,” as reported by WIRED. He added, “The choice of encryption algorithm and key is made between supplier and customer organisation, and ETSI has no input […] nor knowledge of which algorithms and key lengths are in use in any system.”
Researcher Jos Wetzels doubts all governments know if they’re using reduced security. “We consider it highly unlikely non-Western governments are willing to spend literally millions of dollars if they know they’re only getting 56 bits of security,” he said according to WIRED.
The findings will be presented today at the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas.
