News

Social media technology

• September 24, 2020 24 Sep'20

  Third-party code bug left Instagram users at risk of account takeover

  A critical vulnerability in Instagram’s image processing could have allowed attackers to take over not just their victim’s account, but their entire device

• September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20

  Latest Tech Nation fintech cohort reflects diversifying sector

  The latest group of fintechs accepted into Tech Nation’s growth programme reflects the diversification of a maturing sector

• September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20

  Major tech firms urged to end targeted ads to under-18s

  An open letter to Google, Facebook and others is calling on the tech firms to take responsibility for protecting users of their services by ending behavioural advertising to children

• September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20

  Video gamers barraged with cyber attacks

  From credential stuffing to SQL injection and DDoS, video game producers and players are seeing massive volumes of cyber attacks

• September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20

  Twitter investigates image cropping algorithm for racial bias

  The algorithm’s consistent favouring of white faces in image previews has forced the company to investigate it for racial bias

• September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20

  Activision shoots down data breach claims

  Gaming company denies there has been any data breach after up to 500,000 accounts appeared to have been compromised, but evidence mounts that credential stuffing attacks are to blame

• September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20

  Scam mobile apps spreading via rogue TikTok accounts

  Malicious TikTok accounts are promoting a number of adware scam mobile apps

• September 21, 2020 21 Sep'20

  Royal Mint coin production freeze points to digital future for small payments

  Royal Mint freezes production of certain coins as demand dries up amid changing consumer habits

• September 21, 2020 21 Sep'20

  Big questions to be answered over TikTok and WeChat reprieve

  TikTok and WeChat seem to have received a stay of execution, but big questions and contradictions remain

• September 18, 2020 18 Sep'20

  US government deplatforms TikTok and WeChat

  The Commerce Department of the US government has banned new downloads of TikTok and WeChat in the US, and announced new prohibitions on doing business with them

• September 17, 2020 17 Sep'20

  Swedish bank cuts branches and jobs, increases IT spend

  Swedish bank is increasing investment IT to improve digital banking as it reduces its branch network

• September 15, 2020 15 Sep'20

  TikTok-Oracle partnership moves forward for consideration

  Joint venture proposal could create thousands of jobs and secure TikTok’s future outside China

• September 14, 2020 14 Sep'20

  Microsoft drops out of TikTok talks, paves way for Oracle partnership

  Microsoft confirms it is dropping out of the running to acquire the US operations of TikTok, leaving the way clear for an imminent partnership deal with Oracle

• September 11, 2020 11 Sep'20

  Facebook takes legal action against Irish privacy watchdog

  Facebook’s legal action against the Data Protection Commission will attempt to preserve the company’s ability to transfer European citizens’ data to the US despite its lower privacy protections

• September 10, 2020 10 Sep'20

  Irish privacy watchdog orders Facebook to stop sending user data to the US

  Irish privacy watchdog orders Facebook to suspend transfers of European citizens’ data to the US after Schrems II ruling that Europeans have no effective way to challenge American government surveillance

• September 03, 2020 03 Sep'20

  M&S and Ocado enter first week of online delivery partnership

  Customers can now order M&S food through online supermarket Ocado’s website as part of an ongoing partnership between the two retailers

• September 02, 2020 02 Sep'20

  Asos launches TikTok brand campaign

  Fashion brand Asos has launched a campaign on TikTok to bring awareness of its products to a wider audience

• August 27, 2020 27 Aug'20

  Tour de France 2020 fans to get virtual experience delivered by NTT

  This year’s Tour de France was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. IT services company NTT has teamed up with event organiser ASO to offer a virtual experience to fans who cannot be at the roadside

• August 27, 2020 27 Aug'20

  TikTok CEO clocks off

  TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has resigned from the firm after just three months

• August 27, 2020 27 Aug'20

  Tech and telecoms advisory group set up to help trade negotiations

  Department of International Trade launches new Trade Advisory Groups to guide trade negotiations with other countries

• August 25, 2020 25 Aug'20

  TikTok takes Trump to court

  Under-fire video app TikTok files a formal complaint in the federal courts challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to ban it in the US

• August 21, 2020 21 Aug'20

  TikTok’s GDPR compliance probed amid accusations of data misuse

  Dutch privacy organisation SOMI claims TikTok falls short in protecting young users, and that it is likely violating GDPR

• August 20, 2020 20 Aug'20

  Social media data leak highlights murky world of data scraping

  A data brokerage left its database of 235 million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles exposed to anybody who cared to access it

• August 20, 2020 20 Aug'20

  Pandemic behaviour shift will continue for many consumers, research finds

  A large number of customers say the way they have been forced to shop during the pandemic will have a lasting impact on their shopping behaviours

• August 18, 2020 18 Aug'20

  Reports Oracle to enter TikTok bidding war

  Oracle may be about to make a bid to acquire the US operations of TikTok from its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to the FT

• August 14, 2020 14 Aug'20

  US decision to file new charges against Julian Assange ‘astonishing and potentially abusive’

  Lawyer for WikiLeaks founder slams US decision to serve a second indictment at the 11th hour alleging that Assange conspired with hackers, as a potential abuse of process

• August 11, 2020 11 Aug'20

  French data protection authorities to probe TikTok as suitors circle

  France’s CNIL has confirmed a new investigation into TikTok’s data protection practices

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  Virgin Media customers targeted in Twitter phish

  Customers seeking help from the ISP are being targeted by a scam Twitter account

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  TikTok to be banned in US in 45 days

  Trump says his Executive Orders against Chinese mobile apps are in the interests of dealing with a national emergency

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  TikTok to open first European datacentre in Ireland during early 2022

  The CISO of TikTok has confirmed the social video company's plans to open its first European datacentre in early 2022, as its data security processes come under increased scrutiny from the US government

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  GCHQ seeks researchers to tackle deep fakes and misinformation

  A GCHQ research fellowship based at its Manchester office will explore various national security priorities such as deep fakes, fake news and the impact of AI

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Microsoft offers way out of TikTok impasse

  Microsoft offers to buy TikTok from its Chinese parent to ease security fears in the US

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  US lawmakers grill big tech chiefs over market power

  Sixth antitrust hearing sees CEOs of major technology companies face combative questioning from members of Congress over their market power and dominance

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  Twitter confirms it was hit by targeted spearphishing attack

  Investigation into 15 July 2020 hack of a number of high-profile accounts by cryptocurrency scammers has found evidence of a targeted spearphishing incident

• July 23, 2020 23 Jul'20

  Twitter announces crackdown on QAnon accounts

  In a bid to stem the spread of disinformation and prevent real-world harm, Twitter is taking action against QAnon conspiracists

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  Why now could be the right time to launch a digital bank

  Launching a bank during a global crisis is fraught with risk, but an established customer base, experience, agility and diversification could help Zopa do just that

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  Coronavirus: Government drags its feet on online misinformation

  Online misinformation about Covid-19 continues to spread unchecked, according to a DCMS committee report which has accused the government of dragging its feet over online harms

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  Twitter hack fallout: Investigators on trail of cyber criminals

  Investigators are hunting the cyber criminals who broke into Twitter’s systems to hijack prominent accounts, amid concerns that more attacks may come

• July 16, 2020 16 Jul'20

  Schrems v Facebook: European court strikes down EU-US Privacy Shield agreement

  The European Court of Justice has struck down Privacy Shield, the EU-US data-sharing agreement, creating uncertainty for European countries that share data with the US and pressuring the US to reform surveillance laws

• July 16, 2020 16 Jul'20

  Room for improvement in Dutch digital skills

  The Netherlands has good telecommunications and IT networks that can be used safely and reliably, but there is room for improvement in digital skills among the Dutch

• July 16, 2020 16 Jul'20

  Cryptocurrency scammers attack Twitter in insider breach

  Apparent insider breach at Twitter saw so-called “blue tick” accounts of business people, politicians and celebrities hijacked to promote a Bitcoin scam

• July 15, 2020 15 Jul'20

  Video providers slammed by credential stuffing attacks

  Attacks on the media sector are spiking as cyber criminals try to gain access to valuable consumer accounts

• July 14, 2020 14 Jul'20

  European court to decide legality of EU-US data sharing in dispute between Schrems and Facebook

  A ruling by the European Court of Justice will have ramifications for hundreds of thousands of companies that share data with the US. The case aims to balance US surveillance laws with the rights of EU citizens to keep their data private

• July 08, 2020 08 Jul'20

  Use of spyware apps linked to domestic abuse soars in lockdown

  The rise in domestic violence during the pandemic has been linked to increase use of stalkerware apps by abusers

• July 08, 2020 08 Jul'20

  Over 15 billion credentials for sale on dark web

  Research by Digital Shadows reveals the scale of the security threat facing consumers as it uncovers 15 billion usernames and passwords stolen in more than 100,000 different data breaches

• June 25, 2020 25 Jun'20

  Peer-to-peer lender Zopa gets full banking licence

  Peer-to-peer lending pioneer works towards creating the ‘Netflix of banking’

• June 23, 2020 23 Jun'20

  Advertisers revolt over Facebook’s inaction on hate speech

  Several companies plan to pull their adverts from Facebook in protest at its unwillingness to deal with hateful content on its platforms

• June 19, 2020 19 Jun'20

  Online shopping fraud hits £16m during lockdown

  A quarter of victims were aged between 18 and 26, says Action Fraud

• June 19, 2020 19 Jun'20

  Facebook allows US users to disable political ads

  Users of the social media platform will soon be able to opt out of seeing politically motivated posts

• June 12, 2020 12 Jun'20

  Twitter kills thousands of misinformation accounts

  The accounts were linked to the governments of China, Russia and Turkey, and engaged in systematic operations against pro-democracy activists, political opponents and dissidents