IT & Security News
Facial Recognition Arrest Claims Via Twitter
South Wales Police have taken to social media to announce news of the latest arrests made using Automated Facial Recognition (AFR) technology. First Used At Champions League Finals Week The AFR system was first used by South Wales Police last June at the Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. AFR incorporates facial…
Firefox Users Advised To Update
Cisco’s security team has advised Firefox users to install Mozilla’s latest update for its web browser after a potentially serious security vulnerability was discovered. Malicious Code Danger According to Cisco’s researchers (and confirmed by Mozilla), the vulnerability has been caused by “insufficient sanitization of HTML fragments in chrome-privileged documents by the affected software”. This means…
Virgin Credit Cards : No To Crypto
Shortly after Lloyds Bank announced that it would be banning customers from buying crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin using their credit cards, Virgin Money is now adopting the same policy. Why? The volatility of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have led Lloyds, and now Virgin Money to try to protect their customers from running up large debts…
Technostress
The results of a survey by Microsoft indicate that constant contact with technology such as emails, messages and notifications in the workplace can reduce productivity, make workers less productive, and increase stress levels. It’s All Down To The Company’s ‘Digital Culture’ The survey, which involved the opinions of 20,000 workers from 21 European nations, found…
UK Most Targeted Region For Cyber Threats
The Malwarebytes annual State of Malware report has revealed that the UK is now the most targeted region in the world for cyber threats. Big Rises The UK has been elevated to the unenviable position at the top of the targets table after a huge 165% increase in UK bound ransomware was recorded, and after…
UK’s Digital Snooping Powers Illegal
A legal challenge by Labour MP Tom Watson against the UK government’s own digital mass surveillance legislation laws introduced in 2014 has led to a court deciding that the laws were illegal. Legislation The legislation that was successfully challenged in court was the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA), which was actually replaced at…
Amazon Announces SMS Messaging Via Alexa
Amazon has announced that it is introducing a service that will allow users of Alexa devices to send text messages to any contact via the digital assistant using just their voice. Builds Upon Alexa Calling The new service builds upon the Alexa Calling service introduced last year, which allowed owners of the Echo Dot to…
Facebook Pushes Local News
In a move to improve the quality and trustworthiness of content, and to increase civic engagement, Facebook has announced that it will be focusing on local news sources. Misleading News Problems Even though Mark Zuckerberg has been keen to promote the view that the change to the prominence given to local community news sources in…
Military Bases Exposed By Fitness App
A user activity ‘heat map’ published by fitness tracker Strava has unwittingly revealed the location and structure of military bases in other countries. How? The app, made by San Francisco-based Strava, uses a mobile phone’s GPS to track a subscriber’s exercise activity. Although the new version of the app, introduced in November last year, is…
Nominet To Walk Away From Own Charitable Trust
Questions about Nominet Trust’s direction and accountability have led to Nominet announcing that it is withdrawing from its own charitable foundation that it set up over a decade ago. What Is Nominet Trust? Nominet Trust is the charitable foundation that was set up by Nominet, the UK’s domain-name registry, as a way of dealing with…
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