UK economy loses almost £11 billion to cyber crime each year
The UK economy lost £10.9 billion as a result of online fraud and cyber crime last year, according to new research, which works out at about £210 for every person aged over 16 in the country.
The figures come from a survey by Get Safe Online and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and reveal that 68 percent of people in the UK have been targeted in some way by cyber crime.
How to determine if a digital photograph has been manipulated
I am frequently tasked with providing an expert opinion on whether photographs have been digitally manipulated or not. A simple examination can often reveal some limited information, but to get more accurate results, we need to look beyond a simple visual examination.
Looking at a photograph, there are things to look out for when determining if it’s been digitally manipulated. If the photograph is one of a series taken in burst mode, there may be inconsistencies between the set, such as light/tone variations, or pixel aspect ratio. In saying this, though, this isn’t conclusive, and a more in-depth analysis is needed.
Should we really be concerned with automation overtaking human jobs?
The Henn-na hotel opened its doors to the public last year, and is yet to pay its receptionist staff a single penny in salary. How have they gotten away with this? Well, as it turns out, velociraptors dressed in bow ties and bellhop hats will work for you for free. More accurately, though, it’s because 90 percent of the hotel staff are robots.
As automation technology continues to proliferate almost all areas of work, concerns have begun to surface over the security of human jobs. The Henn-na hotel is a prime example of this -- rooms cost just £36 per night, making it a low-cost automated alternative that could take away hundreds of jobs if the idea spreads.
Wise Program Uninstaller removes Windows 10 Universal Apps
Free cleanup tool Wise Program Uninstaller has been updated to version 1.97 with new support for removing Windows 10 Universal Apps.
It’s easy to use. The interface now lists apps along with your desktop applications, and to remove one you just select it and hit "Safe Uninstall".
The UK public isn't ready for self-driving cars yet
The UK public wouldn't really feel comfortable driving alongside autonomous vehicles, a new study by Goodyear and the London School of Economics says. More than half (55 percent) of UK drivers feel that way, compared to 39 percent in 10 countries in Europe, also part of the survey. More than a quarter (28 percent) would, on the other hand, feel comfortable, similar to the rest of Europe (30 percent).
The main concern is with security, followed by issues of principle. More than four fifths (83 percent) of respondents fear "autonomous cars could malfunction". In other ten countries, 71 percent of respondents had the same fears. Almost two thirds (64 percent) think humans should be in control of their vehicles, and 78 percent believe the car should have a wheel.
Nest introduces Eco Temperatures to its learning thermostat
Nest has become a popular choice for those getting their feet wet in the new world of home automation. A thermostat that thinks for you, learning your habits and adjusting the temperature in your home accordingly, sounds great. It's not always perfect, but it improves over time as it gathers more and more information.
Now the company is aiming to push this feature further, welcome news for those who have found the process a bit off with temperatures adjusting by themselves, sometimes at inopportune times.
NirSoft's EncryptedRegView decrypts and displays secret Registry data
NirSoft has released EncryptedRegView, a free tool which finds, decrypts and displays Registry data protected by Windows’ DPAPI encryption scheme.
DPAPI isn’t widely used, even by Microsoft products, but the program managed to find Outlook passwords, Microsoft Edge details and a few other interesting items on our test PC.
BBC micro:bit computer to roll out globally
The BBC micro:bit is a tiny programmable computer like the Raspberry Pi, except it’s even smaller -- it measures just 4cm x 5cm.
The device is powered by a 32-bit ARM Cortex Processor and comes with a built-in 5x5 LED matrix that gives you 25 individually programmable red LEDS to use as a display, some push buttons, so you can interact with games and programs, and an Accelerometer, Magnetometer and Bluetooth antenna.
Social logins -- the convenience and the risks
Increasingly people are suffering from password fatigue, so when signing up to websites it's very tempting to use existing social media accounts.
However, according to a survey from customer identity and access management specialist Janrain, 93 percent of people are concerned about how their account data and activity are being shared and used.
What you need to know about object storage
Storage architectures from the early days of computing typically used block storage and managed data as hierarchy of files. While this was fine when the amount of data involved was relatively small, as storage requirements grew it meant that the management of data became a major task. What was needed was a way of making handling data simpler whilst allowing scalability and ease of access to the information.
Object storage treats data as objects, each being made up of the data itself, metadata that defines it and a unique identifier. The advantage of this is that it makes it possible to store large amounts of unstructured data in a way that’s affordable, scalable and capable of a degree of self-management. In recent years its use has been driven by online sharing and streaming services, allowing a diverse range of digital content to be easily and quickly accessed from anywhere without the need for complex, specialist software.
Ecuador severs Julian Assange's internet connection to prevent US election interference
News emerged this week that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been cut off from the internet. Now Ecuador -- in whose embassy he is holed up in London -- has said that it is responsible.
The move comes after WikiLeaks continued with its threats to release damaging information about Hillary Clinton, which could possibly boost the popularity of Donald Trump. The country is keen not to be seen to be interfering with, or allowing interference with, the US election, saying it "respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states".
Companies are losing confidence in Yahoo
Yahoo users have started to lose faith in the company following the theft of millions of account details and the revelation of collusion with the NSA and FBI. But it is not just users who are becoming disillusioned and looking to move elsewhere -- Yahoo's partners are also concerned.
One such company is StartPage, described as "the world's most private search engine". Concerned by privacy violations, it is ditching Yahoo search results from its metasearch tool Ixquick.eu. The parting of ways will take place by the end of the month, and StartPage CEO Robert Beens believes more companies will follow suit.
Win a Microsoft Xbox One S Battlefield 1 Special Edition Bundle from Major Nelson
This Friday, the video game 'Battlefield 1' hits stores. Many gamers have anticipated this game, as both the graphics and gameplay look amazing. As with previous Battlefield titles, the multiplayer and campaigns should be very rewarding. When completing the latter, gamers should expect solid storytelling.
If you are interested in playing Battlefield 1, the Electronic Arts-published title will be made available for Windows PC. If you prefer gaming on consoles, it will also be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. If you don't own either console, don't panic -- Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) of Microsoft is giving away an Xbox One S. The grand prize is no ordinary version of the console, however, but the limited-edition Battlefield 1 Special Edition Bundle. There will be additional runner-up prizes given away too.
NVIDIA unveils affordable GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti gaming cards starting at $109
When it comes to shopping for PC gaming hardware, there are often three types of consumers -- hardcore, budget, and those that fall in between. Hardcore gamers will spend massive amounts of money to get the absolute best performance. Budget gamers, however, aim for respectable specifications at affordable prices.
If you fall into the budget category, today, NVIDIA announces two new graphics cards that will make you very excited -- GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti. While neither card is top of the line, they should be able to achieve solid performance at 1080p. Best of all? The 1050 starts at a super-low $109.
AWS now powers VMware Cloud
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and VMware have announced a strategic partnership in the cloud computing business. It will create new technology allowing customers to use VMware's datacenter management software on Amazon’s cloud. Basically, VMware's infrastructure software (vSphere, NSX) will run on Amazon Web Services.
"Our customers continue to ask us to make it easier for them to run their existing data center investments alongside AWS", Andy Jassy, CEO, AWS, tells Tech Crunch.
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