An EU proposal to temporarily ban facial recognition technology has divided opinion in the upper echelons of the techsphere, with leaders from Google and Microsoft offering divergent responses to the proposed bill.

Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai was quick to back the proposal, that leaked online this week, over concerns the technology could be misused. Meanwhile, Microsoft President and chief legal officer Brad Smith said an outright ban would be a step too far and called for a more measured response.

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Facebook plans to hire 1,000 more people in the UK by the end of 2020, with a large number working on technologies to remove harmful content. The social network said more than half of the recruits will work in technology-focused roles across software engineering, product design and data science, as well as developing the WhatsApp app, and Workplace, its business-skewed version of Facebook.

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Boris Johnson said he would not risk Britain’s security when upgrading the nation’s 5G communications network – but said critics of Chinese technology firm Huawei must come up with an “alternative” provider. In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said he did not want to “prejudice” the country’s ability to share intelligence with allies in the so-called Five Eyes arrangement – a collaboration between the UK, Australia, US, Canada and New Zealand – as a result of the improvements he had promised voters in his election manifesto.

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Currency exchange business Travelex has insisted it is making “good progress” on recovering after a ransomware virus on New Year’s Eve led to its systems being shut down. Bosses said some internal and order processing systems were returning and the company is starting to switch on in-store systems again. Tony D’Souza, chief executive of Travelex said: “We continue to make good progress with our recovery and have already completed a considerable amount in the background.

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PC users running Windows 7 have been warned to upgrade to avoid possible cyber attacks as support for the software ends. The 10-year-old operating system will no longer receive critical updates from Tuesday onwards, meaning Microsoft will stop patching any weaknesses that appear, making machines vulnerable to hacker attacks. According to NetMarketShare estimations for the end of 2019, Windows 7 is still one of the most popular Windows operating systems with a 32.74% global share, second only to Microsoft’s most recent version, Windows 10, at 47.65%.

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The head of MI5 has said he has no reason to think Britain’s intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States will be damaged if the Chinese tech giant Huawei is given access to the UK’s 5G network. The Government has come under intense pressure from the US administration not to allow Huawei a role in building 5G network amid fears that granting a Chinese firm access to the communications network could be a security risk.

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The topic of breach normalisation has been examined heavily before, but most of the discussion has centred around its obvious, negative effect - the desensitisation and numbing of society to each passing incident.

Tangible effects are rarely immediately apparent in the aftermath of a breach. News reports consequently lack visceral impact. It’s not immediately clear where data ends up -- users are inclined to think there is a high chance that their data, representing one line in a tomb of a database, might never be deployed against them.

“I've actually had journalists tell me this in the past. They would actually say it's difficult for us to talk about because we don't have a picture or video or something we can frame it against to capture people's attention.”

But Pinkard also says there are also positive effects to the phenomenon.

The post New year, new habits? Why this CISO reckons you need to change your security behaviours appeared first on Techerati.

The topic of breach normalisation has been examined heavily before, but most of the discussion has centred around its obvious, negative effect - the desensitisation and numbing of society to each passing incident.

Tangible effects are rarely immediately apparent in the aftermath of a breach. News reports consequently lack visceral impact. It’s not immediately clear where data ends up -- users are inclined to think there is a high chance that their data, representing one line in a tomb of a database, might never be deployed against them.

“I've actually had journalists tell me this in the past. They would actually say it's difficult for us to talk about because we don't have a picture or video or something we can frame it against to capture people's attention.”

But Pinkard also says there are also positive effects to the phenomenon.

The post CISO Interview: Does ‘breach normalisation’ have its benefits? appeared first on Techerati.

We’ve all heard of the boogie man that steals children in the night-time. It’s been giving kids nightmares for years. Now, we have something that will give their parents a scare during the next few weeks. It’s the Grinch-bot and it’s quietly stealing presents in the build-up to Christmas.

During the golden quarter, the period encompassing Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and the New Year sales, the Grinch-= bot is proving to be a real party-pooper.

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Since bursting into the lives of UK shoppers in 2014, Black Friday has fast become the busiest week in the retail calendar. Cyber Monday is the online sister of Black Friday, and that too has ballooned in recent years. In fact, last year, a record-breaking $7.8 billion worth of sales were made on Cyber Monday.

With all this demand, comes greater responsibility. Luckily for those retailers looking to capitalise on this record-busting sales event, there are plenty of cutting edge technology solutions to help them get it right.

Techerati spoke with nine technology experts to get their thoughts and advice for retailer best practice this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The post Black Friday: Why retailers should shop around for the best tech appeared first on Techerati.

Cyber attacks come in all shapes and sizes When it comes to hacking, it’s easy to think of the many films which showcase the criminality of it. From 2016’s Snowden to 2007’s Die Hard 4, hacking is typically associated with thrillers and crime dramas – films which feature a master hacker able to unlock a... Read More

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Cloud computing has offered a wealth of opportunity for businesses across the globe. From encouraging vast and continuous development of services, applications and platforms, to giving companies a myriad of choices when it comes to finding the right solution to drive business benefit. However, cloud computing does open the door to new risks that need to be acknowledged. These risk factors come in many different shapes and sizes, including unauthorised system access, mass data loss, or the complexity of network identity management.  

Visibility is absolutely key for businesses to make informed and educated decisions. Without the full picture, correct decision making is nearly impossible and will ultimately lead to failure. With an understanding of where the risks and threats lie, companies can build a defence to mitigate these threats; this is where having centralised connectivity is essential. 

The post Why centralised connectivity is the most secure approach for businesses appeared first on Techerati.