Monthly Archives: March 2021

Cyber-security companies are warning about the rise of so-called ‘extortionware’ where hackers embarrass victims into paying a ransom. Experts say the trend towards ransoming sensitive private information could affect companies not just operationally but through reputation damage. It comes as hackers bragged after discovering an IT Director’s secret porn collection. The targeted US firm has […]

A firm that has the registered details of more than nine million chipped pets across the UK has been accused of losing its customers’ data. Petlog is requesting that all users create a new account, but is not explaining why they need to do so. One dog owner told the BBC he had logged on […]

Phone companies must do more to stop fraudsters who spoof phone numbers to trap victims. one of the UK’s top law enforcement officers has said. Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency’s National Economic Crime Centre, says the UK needs “a step change in our response” to fraud. It costs the economy up […]

OneWeb has put up another 36 satellites, taking its in-orbit constellation to 146 spacecraft. The new platforms were lofted by a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s far east. The additions will enable engineers to further test the company’s promised system for delivering broadband internet connections from space. OneWeb is now owned principally by the Indian conglomerate […]

Criminals and paedophiles are trying to groom and exploit young siblings as part of an emerging trend of online sexual abuse, experts have warned. The Internet Watch Foundation said victims ranged from 3-16 years, with some groomed to copy adult pornography. It found 511 examples involving siblings between September and December – roughly one in […]

Supermarkets can sell non-essential items and garden centres can open in Wales from Monday in a further slight easing of Covid lockdown rules. Shops that have already been open, but had non-essential aisles cordoned off, can now sell anything, but shops that only sell non-essential items will remain closed until 12 April. Garden centres will […]

BT has said it will “build like fury” to roll out full-fibre internet connections after new rules announced by the UK’s telecoms regulator. Ofcom has decided not to impose price caps on full-fibre connections provided by the firm’s Openreach subsidiary. This gives the company the certainty it had been looking for ahead of a planned […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is looking to strip three Chinese telecom firms of their US operating licenses. China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks and ComNet had failed to explain their links to Beijing, the FCC said. The US communications watchdog has long argued those links could pose a national security risk. The move signals that […]

Space projects are the latest international scientific collaborations to lose funding because of the cut in UK overseas aid. Ten initiatives that would have used space data to tackle developing-world problems, such as human trafficking and flood vulnerability, have had their support cancelled. Ministers are dropping the commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on foreign […]

Google plans to reduce the fees it charges to feature Android apps within its Play store. From 1 July, it will take a 15% cut from the first $1m (£720,000) in sales each year of the apps and any digital goods and services sold within them, rather than its current 30% commission. It follows a […]