Blog
Recent Posts
If you would like to receive our weekly news letter click here
Tech Insight : Apple : What is ‘Sideloading?
In Apple’s new “Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps” white paper, it describes the threat posed by ‘sideloading’ on its App Stores. Here’s what you need to know. Sideloading Sideloading normally refers to transferring a file between two local devices...
Tech News : LinkedIn Shuts Down In China Over Censorship Row
Microsoft’s LinkedIn will be replaced with a “no social feed” version in China after criticism from the US that it has been complicit in the censorship of posts and profiles from Western journalists. Accusations From Home The accusations that LinkedIn appeared to be...
Tech News : 30 Countries Pledge To Act On Ransomware
The international Counter-Ransomware members from 30 countries have issued a joint statement outlining their intent to take action to counter the growing threat posed by ransomware. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts the important files...
Featured Article : How To Tell If You’re Being Spoofed
Many cybers attacks now take the form of using fake/spoof communication to trick victims into parting with personal (or company) data, or money. We take a look at some of the most popular and widely reported methods and how to avoid falling victim to them. Phishing...
Tech Tip – How To Turn On WhatsApp Encrypted Backups
Facebook has just enabled encrypted backups for WhatsApp messages to Google Drive or Apple’s iCloud. The feature, however, is not enabled by default so, if you’d like to backup your important WhatsApp messages, here’s how to turn the feature on: - In the latest...
Tech Insight : What (Actually) Is The ICO?
In this tech-insight, we look at the role of the Information Commissioner’s Office, and how it can be a source of valuable compliance information and help to businesses. What Is It? The Information Commissioner’s Office is the UK’s independent, non-departmental public...
Tech News : Proposed Ban For Mass Facial Recognition & ‘Predictive’ Policing
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for a ban on the use of AI-based predictive policing systems and the processing of biometric data that leads to mass surveillance. Areas The resolution seeks to ban the use of facial recognition technology and...
Tech News : What’s Going On With Facebook?
After experiencing two outages in a week, one lasting more than six hours, and a whistleblower at a Senate Committee hearing alleging potentially harmful effects from Facebook’s algorithms, some are asking ‘what’s going on with Facebook?’ Whistleblower Recently...
Featured Article : Monetising Movement (Your Geo-Data)
In this feature, we take a look at how a multi-billion-dollar market obtains, uses, and sells our location data. Report A GVR report estimates that the global location intelligence market was worth USD 12.2 billion in 2020. This market uses our phone/device location...
Tech Tip – How To Check Your Google 2FA Settings
Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra security dimension to accounts, and with Google now heading down the route of automatically enrolling millions of users into 2FA, here’s how to check if 2FA is turned on for your Google account: - Go to your account...
Featured Article: Domain Security
After a recent report found that poor domain security has left most Global 2000 companies vulnerable to the threats of phishing and brand abuse, we take a closer look at domain security and how businesses can maximise their protection against popular threats. CSC...
Tech Insight : QR Codes … A Security Risk?
In this tech-insight, we take a look at what QR codes are used for, review some well-known security risks, and outline what action you can take to protect yourself from malicious QR codes. Quick Response (QR) Codes A QR code is a machine-readable (e.g., by...
Tech News : Amazon To Start Selling Cyber Insurance
Amazon has entered the B2B insurance market through a partnership with Superscript and is offering cyber insurance to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK. Cyber Insurance? Cyber insurance protects businesses (and individuals providing services for businesses)...
Tech News : Networks Angered By Ofcom’s Openreach Decision
Independent broadband network providers (altnets) have been angered by Ofcom’s decision to take no action over anti-competition concerns about (BT) Openreach’s “Equinox” offer. What Is Equinox? The Equinox Offer from BT’s Openreach essentially proposes that big ISPs...
Tech Tip – Scheduling Emails in Outlook
If you’re working late/early/at weekends but you’d like your emails to be sent on the right day/time in the working week, or perhaps to catch the recipient just when you know they’re returning to the office, you can schedule your emails on Outlook. Here’s how: -...
Tech News : Laser Broadband Success
Alphabet subsidiary X, the Moonshot Factory’s ‘Project Taara’ is claiming 99.9 per cent uptime within the first 20 days of a light beam/laser broadband project. What Is It? Laser-based broadband uses wireless optical communications (WOC), which has been described as...
Tech News : Loss of a Legend : Sir Clive Sinclair
The inventor, innovator, EV pioneer (with the C5), electronics and tech businessman Sir Clive Sinclair died recently, aged 81. Circuit Design Born in Richmond, Surrey in 1940, and knighted in 1983 for his contributions to the UK’s computer industry, Sir Clive Sinclair...
Featured Article: The Big Switch-Off
In this article, we look at some of the key issues surrounding the planned 2025 PSTN switch-off, the move to VoIP, and what options businesses have going forward. What’s Happening? Back in April, BT Openreach announced that starting from the end of this year (and...
Tech Insight : What Are Foldable Phones?
With the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 phone being the latest foldable phone in the spotlight, we take a closer look at what foldable phones are, their advantages, their disadvantages, and likely future development. Foldable As the name suggests, foldable phones have either...
Tech Tip – Stopping Distracting Ads In YouTube
If you’d like a fast and easy way to remove the distractions of ads popping up in and around the frame when watching YouTube videos, here’s how: - Select any video on YouTube. - Insert “_popup” between the word “watch” and the question mark the in YouTube URL and...
Tech News : No More Passwords For Microsoft Logins
In a bold step, Microsoft has announced that it is getting rid of all password logins, and that users will have to use an authenticator app or other solution instead. Vision Back in 2019, Microsoft announced that 100 million people were already using Microsoft’s...
Tech News : Apple Issues Patch To Stop iPhone ‘Zero-Click’ Spyware
Apple has issued a security update following the discovery of a zero-day, zero-click “spyware” that could infect iPhones and iPads. Discovered By Researchers The threat was discovered by independent researchers from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab while they...
Featured Article: Charging Electric Vehicles – What You Need to Know
In this article, we look at the different types and locations of EV charging in the UK, plus the challenges and legislation relating to it. How Many Electric Cars In The UK? By the end of August 2021, there were more than 600,000 plug-in vehicles, and nearly 300,000...
Tech Insight : What Is A Solid State Battery?
In this tech-insight, we take a brief look at what solid-state batteries are, their benefits and challenges, and how why they hold a great deal of promise for use in electric vehicles in the near future. Solid State A solid-state battery is a battery that has solid...
Tech Tip – A Quick Look At Your Desktop
If you’re browsing the Internet or working on file in Windows 10 but you need a fast look at your desktop here’s how: - While in a browser or working on a Microsoft Office file e.g., Word, find the tiny vertical line to the far, right hand-side of the bottom taskbar....
Tech News : Birthdates Becoming Required For Social Logins
The introduction of the Age Appropriate Design Code (also known as the Children’s Code) by the ICO means that Facebook has decided to ask Instagram users to give their date of birth as part of the login. Age Appropriate Design Code The statutory Children’s Code (‘The...
Tech News : Pro-Kremlin Trolls Targeting Media Website Comments
The results of new research suggest that the comments section for stories on prominent media websites across many western countries are the focus of major Kremlin-based activities to try and influence public opinion. Multiple Outlets, Many Countries The Open Source...
Featured Article : ‘Smart’ Glasses?
With Google and Amazon (plus soon-to-be Facebook and Apple) getting into making ‘Smart Glasses’, we take a brief look at what different types are currently being used for, plus we look at the vision for the future of these promising wearables. What Are Smart Glasses?...
Tech Insight : What Is ‘Doxing’?
In this article we look at what doxing is, the legality of it, some examples of doxing, and we consider what we can do to protect ourselves and our businesses from attack. What Is Doxing? Doxing is a term meaning for dropping (personal) dox where ‘dox’ is a slang term...
Tech Tip – Open Pinned Programs Easily With Keyboard Shortcuts
If you use certain Windows 10 Microsoft Office programs often, you can pin them to the taskbar and then open them quickly and easily with keyboard shortcuts. Here’s how: - If you have a program open e.g., Word, hover your mouse over it (in the taskbar), right mouse...