It has been reported that the UK Home Office will soon be using biometric facial recognition technology in a smartphone app to match a user’s selfie against the image read from a user’s passport chip as a means of self-service identity verification for UK border control. Dutch & UK Technology The self-service identity verification ‘enrolment service’ system uses biometric facial recognition technology that was developed in partnership with WorldReach Software, and immigration and border management company, with support from (Dutch) contactless document firm ReadID. Flashmark By iProov Flashmark technology, which will be used provide the biometric matching of a user’s [...]

An employee at a vehicle accident repair centre who stole the data of customers and passed it to a company that made nuisance phone calls has been jailed for 6 months following an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Used Former Co-Worker’s Login To Company Computer The employee of Nationwide Accident Repair Services, Mustafa Kasim, used a former co-workers' login details to access software on the company computer system (Audatex) that was used to estimate repair costs.  The software also stored the personal data (names and phone numbers) of the owners of the vehicles, and it was the personal [...]

In a creative and fun step, the latest update to Microsoft Windows now means that you can achieve maximum personalisation in your written communications by using the ‘Microsoft Font Maker’ to turn your handwriting into a font that you can install and use on your computer. Here’s how (N.B. It works best with a digital pen and tablet): Download Microsoft Font Maker: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/microsoft-font-maker/9n9209f8s3vc?activetab=pivot:overviewtab Either click the pen icon on the taskbar or manually enter the Settings > Devices > Pen & Windows Ink. Launch Font Maker, and write each letter in each box as shown. On the next page, write 3 [...]

Researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands have released a paper highlighting several security flaws that they’ve discovered in SSDs which mean that data from a flash disk can recovered in more than one way, even if it’s supposedly self-encrypted. What Is An SSD? An SSD is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies (memory chips on a circuit board with and In/Out interface to feed power and transfer data) as memory to store data persistently. Even though it doesn’t actually contain a physical disk, it is sometimes called a called solid-state disk. Hardware Encryption Not Better Than [...]

As businesses come to realise that they may be required to store some data for decades, encrypted data should be secure well beyond its useful life, and with this in mind, security architect for Benelux at IBM, Christiane Peters, is suggesting that businesses should start preparing now to implement post-quantum data protection. Post What? The suggestion is that, in a relatively short time, quantum computers will be commercially available. One threat from this could be that quantum computers in criminal hands could be used to try and crack encrypted business data. For example, in the US, the National Security Agency [...]

At its conference in Barcelona, VMware (tech subsidiary of Dell Technologies and CO2 emission-reducing evangelist) has announced that it has introduced a beta version of blockchain-as-a-service. Part of VMware Tools According to VMware, the new blockchain-as-a-service product will be integrated into existing VMware tools and will provide permissioned blockchain for enterprise consortiums, which will be more secure than public blockchains. What Is Blockchain? Blockchain, the open-source, free technology behind crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, is an incorruptible peer-to-peer network (a kind of ledger) that allows multiple parties to transfer value in a secure and transparent way. Blockchain’s Co-Founder Nic Carey describes blockchain [...]

With the new Windows 10 update and the new ‘Cloud Clipboard’ feature, you can avoid losing text that you’ve copied, see a history of the text and images you previously copied (via the new Cloud Clipboard feature), and even pin frequently used content to the clipboard permanently. Here’s how to use it: Hit the Windows key + V. This shows all the content previously clipped and copied. Select a piece of content from the clipboard history, left click on it. The next time you select paste from the dropdown menu or hit Ctrl + V you will paste that selected [...]

A vote in January on contentious new EU copyright laws could negatively impact tech platforms and all online publishers, create risky legal grey areas for many businesses, stifle freedom of expression, and lead to more surveillance and control. What Copyright Law? There will be a final vote in January 2019 on an EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. According to EU leaders, the intention in creating the new Directive is to modernise copyright laws across all EU member states, and to take account of how people now share and distribute content in the digital age. The change [...]