One of the big debates about facial recognition is how accurate it is. It’s a debate we consciously didn’t explore in our BBC Click report. That’s because as soon as you start talking about accuracy you get into an important but very gnarly debate about statistics. However, given the amount of interest the story has…
I spent a year following facial recognition’s rapid roll-out across the UK for BBC News. So-called “live”or “automated” systems are capable of instantly matching people who walk past a camera against a database of file photos. For the two police forces testing the technology, South Wales Police and the Met, that database is often drawn…
A worrying new frontier in the Wild West of personal data exploitation
Expect the overnight creation of a rampant army of ambulance-chasing lawyers, carpet-bombing social media sites with adverts shouting “Have you been harmed by something online?! Get in touch! No win, no fee!”
This report was first published as a three-part podcast series. On 12 May 2017, employees in Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica came under attack. Their computer monitors displayed a disturbing message: their files had been scrambled and to get them back they would have to pay the hackers who’d infected them. Telefonica wasn’t alone. The virus…
Two mental health chatbot apps have required updates after struggling to handle reports of child sexual abuse.
Iranian cybercriminals tried to hack into U.K. universities offering government-certified cybersecurity courses, successfully accessing at least one university’s accounts during a campaign lasting months. The hacking group has targeted at least 18 British universities, according to researchers. The list includes top-flight institutions. But it also includes less well-known destinations which are notable for being among…
The U.K. government has not only accused Russia of four cyberattacks, it’s now linking the country’s alleged hacking team to raids on power stations, TV companies and more. The National Cyber Security Centre has today publicly accused the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, of hacking the Democratic National Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and…
One of the world’s most infamous cyber crime gangs has created custom-made ransomware for victims, blackmailing them for millions of pounds. The Dridex group has spent years targeting financial institutions, among others, using viruses to spy on victims and then authorise fraudulent transfers from their corporate accounts. But as banks have got better at spotting…
“Disturbing” videos of child circumcision are being published on YouTube under an exemption for medical and news footage.
Geoff White 