Big tech firms say they are the only providers of large cybersecurity services – even as their products are compromised. The conflict of interest is hugeTo appreciate the perversity of our reliance on US technology giants, you just need to grapple with the fact that one of the likely winners in the global “cyber-outage” – caused by the series of crippling cyber-attacks that hit public and private institutions worldwide a week ago – might be the very company whose software was compromised – Microsoft.The WannaCry ransomware used in the attack wreaked havoc on organisations including FedEx and Telefónica, as well as the NHS, where operations were cancelled, x-rays, test results and patient records became unavailable and phones did not work. In the end the global spread of the attack was halted by an “accidental hero”, a 22-year-old IT security blogger from Ilfracombe, Devon. Marcus Hutchins found and inadvertently activated a “kill switch” in the malware by registering a specific domain name hidden within the program. Continue reading...

The truth is, it’s only fun when you’re driving like a bit of a gitI have a generalised prejudice against the family sport car. It sounds ingenious, but the reality is usually a load of squashed people unable to see properly out of tinted windows in the back, with a jerk in the front to whom the cachet bestowed by his engine noise is more important than the deep-vein thrombosis brewing behind him.This isn’t necessarily untrue of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta – only this time, I was the jerk in the front, which made those dynamics look rather different. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Friday. Continue reading...

Oxfordshire-based firm inundated with calls in wake of last week’s ransomware attack on NHS and other businessesUK cybersecurity firm Sophos has been inundated with calls since the biggest ever ransomware attack was unleashed last week on the NHS and businesses around the world, the company has revealed.Shares hit a fresh record high after Sophos, a cloud network security specialist that counts the NHS among its clients, reported a sharp rise in billings and predicted strong growth over the next few years. Continue reading...

By putting too much faith in the importance of ratings and making the process too casual, low-income individuals are at the mercy of the gig economy

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday. Continue reading...

Boring square boxes simply aren’t good enough for pizza served in Apple’s cafes, so the company created a circular vented oneNot content with patenting the marvellous invention of a paper bag, Apple decided that ordinary pizza boxes simply weren’t up to the job in its white and shiny world. Behold the circular, Apple-approved pizza box to end all pizza boxes.Published in 2012 – with one box apparently signed as a mark of respect on the death of the Apple founder, Steve Jobs – the patent says that the new and improved circular pizza receptacle’s invention is credited to Apple’s head of food services, Francesco Longoni. It was intended for use in the company’s Caffè Macs and the new Apple Park cafe. Continue reading...

World’s largest smartphone maker faces stiff competition with launch of contactless system in UKSamsung has finally launched its contactless mobile payment solution in the UK, almost two years after its chief rival Apple Pay rolled out, and a full year after Android Pay.The new contactless payment system allows users of recent Samsung Galaxy S smartphones to pay for goods and services by tapping their handsets on contactless terminals, and pay for travel on Transport for London’s network of tube, train and bus services. Continue reading...

Microsoft reneges on update policy to push out patch for unsupported Windows XP and Windows 8 to help defend against ransomware attack

The British man hailed a hero for halting the WannaCry cyber-attack says he was just doing his job. IT security expert Marcus Hutchins was praised around the world after finding the kill switch for the malware that attacked computers worldwide on Friday, including large parts of Britain’s hospital network

The Latvian skydiver Ingus Augstkalns completes what drone-maker Aerones says is the world’s first case of drone-diving after being lifted 330 metres into the air by a 28-propeller drone. Augstkalns used the top of a 120-metre communications tower as a launchpad before being lifted higher by the purpose-built drone, which weighs 70kg and can lift up to 100kg. Augstkalns then let go of the drone and parachuted safely back to earth Continue reading...

Similarities spotted between details of last week’s massive cyber-attack and code used by a prolific cybergang with links to North Korean governmentTwo top security firms have found evidence linking the WannaCry ransomware to the prolific North Korean cybergang known as Lazarus Group.Related: What is WannaCry ransomware and why is it attacking global computers? Continue reading...

The WannaCry ransomware attackers demanded payment in the cryptocurrency. But its use in the ‘clean’ economy is growing, too, and could revolutionise how we use moneyIn March 2009, representatives of crime agencies including MI6 and the FBI, as well as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, gathered for a closed session at a conference in a central-London hotel. The topic: the potential use of virtual currencies by organised criminals and terrorists.“At the time, everyone was getting very exercised about Second Life,” recalls Dr Simon Moores, a former technology ambassador for the UK government, who convened the session as chair of the international e-Crime Congress. The online virtual world, launched in 2003, allowed users to buy virtual goods in virtual Linden Dollars, named after Linden Lab, the company behind the game. Continue reading...

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt breaks his silence to say NHS has not suffered second wave of attacks

David Wrigley of panel that drew up guidelines on cybersecurity says ministers failed to heed advice last summer

Europol and NHS fear further disruption when workers switch on computers for first time since spread of ransomwareHealth and security chiefs have warned of possible fresh disruption from the global cyber-attack when workers switch on their computers for the first time at the start of the working week.Europol, the pan-EU crime-fighting agency, said the threat was escalating and predicted the number of “ransomware” victims was likely to grow across the private and public sectors. Continue reading...

Tennis star backs two fledgling firms on crowdfunding platform Seedrs, including company behind world’s first flat folding helmetAndy Murray, the number one male tennis player in the world, has backed two fledgling British companies on crowdfunding platform Seedrs, including a business behind the world’s first flat folding helmet.

Who’s to blame for the ransomware attacks? Readers suggest Microsoft, Whitehall and the NSA among othersIn 2010, an agreement between Microsoft and the NHS to provide almost all Microsoft software to the service for one single fee and to keep the software updated with new releases was not renewed by the incoming coalition government (NHS targeted in global cyber-attack, 14 May). It cost a few billion, but the budget for it was there, and it saved many billions more. Microsoft also liked it, of course, as it saved it the hassle of organising multiple sales with the many different parts of the service. As I understood it, the Cabinet Office stopped it dead.At the time, I was one of a group of NHS users consulted by those preparing the case for the arrangement to be continued. We were all shocked when it wasn’t renewed. Many people argued it was a mistake at the time. This relatively basic IT (Windows, Office, Mail, SQL server, and so forth) cost the NHS far more as a result. Further, the lack of the single agreement effectively moved the cost of upgrades on to individual hospitals, community providers, GPs and commissioners, and no new money was made available by the coalition government to help these individual units close the gap. Continue reading...

Known on Twitter as Malware Tech, the 22-year-old is a self-taught computer expert who reveals little about his true identityHis online avatar is a cat in sunglasses, he drools over surf pictures from Cornwall and orders three takeaway pizzas for lunch. But unlike other home-based computer whizzes trawling the internet for amusing Twitter memes and the latest hacking strategies, the 22-year-old known only as Malware Tech this weekend stopped a potentially devastating international cyber-attack in its tracks.He wants to remain anonymous – not least because he may have got in the way of some serious international criminals – but is believed to be a malware expert working for a US company, living close to his beloved coastline in south-west England. Continue reading...

Labour and Liberal Democrats claim Conservatives’ austerity squeeze has left service with unprotected IT systemsThe cyber-attack that disrupted NHS systems and forced operations to be cancelled throughout the UK on Saturday has become a bitterly contested election issue, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats blaming the crisis on the government’s failure to upgrade hospital computers.A Cobra emergency ministerial meeting held on Saturday afternoon heard that 48 NHS organisations – a fifth of the total – were caught up in the attack, which spread to 99 countries. Continue reading...

French voters were insulated from the far right’s election meddling because they prefer to share high-quality information. And by the fact they speak FrenchThere’s an ancient adage about new communications technologies that says we tend to overestimate their short-term impact while underestimating their long-term effects. For years, we wondered how the internet would affect democratic politics and accordingly focused on its short-term impacts. In 2003, Howard Dean showed that the network made fundraising easier for insurgent candidates. In 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama showed that the internet could be used not just for fundraising but also for establishing a political “brand”, mobilising canvassing support on the ground and using social media to get consistent messages out to millions of voters. Studies by scholars such as Helen Margetts showed that the technology could lower the “transaction costs” of political action, making it easier for citizens to register their support for particular causes and co-ordinate responses to events. And so on.But, in a way, these were obvious uses of the technology. It was only in 2016 that we began to glimpse its longer-term impacts. Twitter, for example, enabled Donald Trump not only to bypass the gatekeepers of traditional media to speak directly to his followers, but also to dictate the news agenda of said media. Continue reading...

Bigger doesn’t always mean better. But the new Sorento from Kia is both huge and hugely impressivePrice: £28,795

Firm investigating illicit activity identifies three associated bitcoin addresses but can’t trace individuals before funds are withdrawnRansomware cyber-attack - live updatesThe global ransomware cyber-attack that targeted tens of thousands of computers in 100 countries and crippled NHS systems appears to have raised just $20,000 (£15,500) for the criminals behind it, experts working with investigators have told the Guardian.Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, a company that identifies illicit activity involving bitcoin and provides services to most major law enforcement agencies in the US and UK, said that at least three bitcoin addresses have been identified as being associated with the malware used in Friday’s worldwide attack. Continue reading...

Amber Rudd, the home secretary, can burble all she wants but the Tories have overseen chaos in NHS computing systemsThe heart sinks whenever Amber Rudd, the home secretary, talks about anything to do with computers. On Saturday, in the wake of the malware attack that has crippled hospital IT systems, she was on Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are ahead of this [attack] with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the advice is available,” she pronounced proudly, as though putting “national” and “cyber” on something automatically granted it authority.“Patients have been inconvenienced,” she conceded, “but no patient data has been accessed and the NHS is brilliantly managing through this.” Continue reading...

Claims that patient care has been unaffected are dismissed by doctors, nurses, pharmacists and patientsRansomware attack hits 99 countries - live updatesOfficials have claimed in the wake of the global ransomware attack that patient care has been unaffected despite 45 NHS sites being hit.But hospitals across England and Scotland were forced to cancel routine procedures and divert emergency cases in the wake of the attack, which has shut down access to computers in almost 100 countries. Here, patients and NHS workers reveal how the crisis has affected them:

More than 45,000 attacks recorded in countries including the UK, Russia, India and China may have originated with theft of ‘cyber weapons’ from the NSA

A bus carrying more than 50 workers of the electric car company rear-ended and crushed a Volkswagen Beetle, killing the law enforcement officerA bus carrying Tesla employees crashed into a vehicle on a California highway Friday morning, killing an off-duty law enforcement officer, police said.The bus, which was carrying more than 50 employees of the electric car company, was driving on a freeway east of the Tesla factory in Fremont when it rear-ended a Volkswagen Beetle around 7am, crushing the car and killing the driver, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Continue reading...

Shocked that UK developer Improbable has been subject to a $502m investment? In the long-game of tech predictions, it could turn out to be a smart moveThe idea that the next British unicorn (the term for a startup valued over $1bn) could be the developer of a cloud-computing platform for video games seems, well, improbable.But that’s what’s happened, following an enormous $502m investment in London-based Improbable from Japan’s SoftBank corporation. In a single transaction, the sum – which is for a minority stake in the company, with its three founders, Herman Narula (29) Rob Whitehead (26) and Peter Lipka (28) still holding the majority of shares – took the firm into the big league. Continue reading...

Sound artist Kathy Hinde and computer artist Matthew Olden AKA I Am The Mighty Jungulator talk about creative ways of using tech as a musical toolTech can become part of any artist’s expressive toolkit. In music, it can be used as an instrument to improvise and compose with, and this week we’re meeting two different creators who are using it in unusual ways. Continue reading...

Waymo sued Uber in February, claiming that the ride-sharing company had orchestrated the ‘calculated theft’ of its technologyThe federal judge overseeing a trade secret dispute between Uber and the Google spin-off Waymo has recommended that federal prosecutors begin a criminal investigation into the alleged theft of Waymo’s self-driving car technology.Judge William Alsup’s referral of the case to the US attorney came amid a flurry of orders in the contentious lawsuit between two Silicon Valley giants. Alsup also denied Uber’s attempt to force the case into arbitration and partially granted Waymo’s request for a preliminary injunction against Uber. Continue reading...

Page for Women on Web, which connects doctors with women in places that restrict abortion access, deleted over ‘promotion or encouragement of drug use’Facebook has censored the page of an organization that helps women obtain abortion pills, citing its policy against the “promotion or encouragement of drug use”.Related: Civil rights groups: Facebook should protect, not censor, human rights issues Continue reading...

Executive order signed Thursday aims to improve the network security of US government agencies that have fallen victim to high-profile data breachesDonald Trump has signed an executive order to modernize and improve the nation’s computer networks and protect critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks.The order, signed Thursday, outlines plans to improve the network security of US government agencies, which have fallen victim to high-profile data breaches in recent years. Among the new requirements is that agency heads must be accountable for implementing risk management measures and updating their systems. Continue reading...

US ride-hailing app argued it is digital service, but ECJ advocate general says it should be regulated as transport companyUber could be forced to adhere to local licensing laws in European cities, after a top legal adviser to Europe’s highest court said the US ride-hailing app should be regulated as a transport company.The European court of justice’s advocate general Maciej Szpunar said Uber provides a transport service, rather than a digital service as it has argued. Continue reading...

Ruslan Sokolovsky posted this video of himself playing Pokémon Go in a church in Yekaterinburg last August. He has now been convicted of ‘inciting religious hatred’ – the same charge that sent two women from Pussy Riot to prison for two years in 2012 – and been given a three and a half year suspended sentence

Blogger handed three-and-a-half year suspended sentence for ‘inciting religious hatred’ after catching Pokémon in Yekaterinburg’s Church of All SaintsA Russian YouTuber who filmed himself playing Pokémon Go in a church has been convicted for “inciting religious hatred”.Ruslan Sokolovsky posted his video at the height of the game’s popularity in August 2016. On Thursday he was convicted by a court in Yekaterinburg and given a given a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence. The same offence saw two women from the Pussy Riot punk collective sent to prison for two years in 2012. Continue reading...

The fall of Juicero isn’t just entertaining tech industry stupidity – it’s the sign of a country refusing to break new ground

Andrew uses Google Drive and Dropbox to sync and store his data. Does he still need to make backups?I use Google Drive and Dropbox to store all my data, and I assume that because my data is synced that it is safe. Is this the case or should I be backing it up as well? AndrewIt’s very handy to have files synchronised with online services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud, Flickr or whatever. You should be able to retrieve most or all of your photos if your smartphone or laptop breaks or is lost or stolen. However, you can never assume that your data is safe, whether you’re asking about cloud services, network servers, PCs, smartphones, USB hard drives, thumb drives, SD cards, or CD-Rom, DVD or Blu-ray discs. I might make an exception for stone tablets, but they are not practicable for storing photos and videos.

Ever wondered why email, trash cans, Google Docs and desktops look the way they do? The answer lies in 1960s hippie culture and LSD-taking creatives

Snap Inc’s shares lose nearly a quarter of their value on news of $2.2bn loss and slowing growth in first quarter report, its first since its IPO in MarchSnapchat’s parent company Snap Inc lost nearly a quarter of its value on Wednesday when its newly listed shares went into a nosedive after the company reported a $2.2bn loss and slowing growth.Snap’s shares closed the day at $22.98 and fell close to 25% in after hours trading.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday! Continue reading...

Sleek, intelligent and attractive, new Google voice-controlled device can play music, control other connected objects and give you a personalised briefing on your dayThe Google Home smart speaker has finally made it to the UK, bringing the company’s always-listening voice assistant into direct competition with the incumbent Amazon Echo and its own assistant, Alexa. But is Google’s best worth buying?Artificially intelligent voice assistants are the new battleground between the big US tech companies and while Google is no stranger with voice search and Google Now being available on Android smartphones for years, it was beaten into US and then UK households by Amazon and its hit Echo speaker. Continue reading...

V&A, London

US cyber officials gave France ‘heads up’ that Russia was hacking their systems and was working with the UK and Germany to help shield upcoming electionsThe US National Security Agency tipped off French officials that Russia was hacking the country’s computer systems during the presidential campaign and is working with the UK and Germany to help shield their upcoming elections from Moscow’s interference.The NSA director, Adm Mike Rogers, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the agency tipped off its French counterparts before the hack of Emmanuel Macron’s campaign became public 36 hours before he won the second round of the presidential campaign. Continue reading...

Minicab and black-cab drivers join GMB union in urging Transport for London to take actionA group of minicab drivers, many employed by Uber, have joined black-cab drivers and unions in calling for improved workers’ rights to be a condition of Uber being able to renew its London licence later this month.United Private Hire Drivers, which says it has 1,200 members and organised a go-slow protest blocking roads in the capital in November last year, is calling on Transport for London to insist Uber and other minicab drivers are guaranteed basic employment rights, including the minimum wage and holiday pay, under the terms of its new five-year licence. Continue reading...

Tale of Brexiter who claimed his son bet £500 on far-right candidate to win French election amused many – but it was not trueYou may have seen screenshots of tweets from a disappointed Brexiter who was trying to convince Ladbrokes his 13-year-old son put a £500 bet on Marine Le Pen winning the French election.With the exception of Mussolini sitting on a whoopee cushion that one time, this may be the funniest thing ever involving a fascist. pic.twitter.com/tOKa3XDWZj Continue reading...

New voice-controlled speaker with a 7in screen hopes to keep Amazon ahead of Google and Microsoft in fight for home assistant supremacyAmazon is launching Echo Show, a new Alexa-powered smart speaker that includes a 7in touchscreen and video-calling features, as it enters the next stage in an ongoing battle with Google to become the most popular in-home voice assistant.Echo Show, which will cost $230 in the US and will ship on 28 June (no UK release date is set), will operate like Amazon’s existing Echo and Echo Dot wifi-connected smart speakers, putting the company’s artificially intelligent voice assistant Alexa into the home. But unlike Amazon’s previous voice-only smart speakers, it will also have a touchscreen to show extra information, play videos from YouTube and elsewhere, show results for questions and other visual information that’s currently displayed when Alexa is asked a question on the firm’s Fire TV smart devices. Continue reading...

Guardian News and Media says email addresses and usernames were exposed following human error at a third-party technology providerUsers of the dating website Guardian Soulmates have received explicit emails following a data breach.The email addresses and Soulmates usernames were exposed by a third-party service provider, according to Guardian News and Media (GNM), which has run the online dating service since 2004. Continue reading...

Late-night host told viewers to flood Federal Communications Commission website with comments, but agency says issues were from DDoS attacksThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) claimed on Monday that its online comments system was attacked hours after comedian John Oliver called on viewers of his HBO series Last Week Tonight to file comments to urge the agency to protect open internet rules.

Bethesda’s reimagining of the popular shooting game combines the best of Bioshock, Dead Space and Dishonored but does little extra with themNearly everything good about Prey is pulled from a game released in the decade before it. Well, four other games to be exact. As Morgan Yu, you are thrust into the aftermath of a failed research project with only a wrench for protection, just like Jack in BioShock. The desolate, ruined space station setting brings back memories of Dead Space, and the experimental gameplay takes cues from Dishonored, which was also developed by Franco-US studio Arkane. Then there’s the fact that it re-imagines the original Prey, a well-received sci-fi shooter from 2006, which mixed extraterrestrial and Native American themes to compelling effect.The new Prey takes the highlights of these games, but merely allows them to coexist in a single habitat, never doing anything new with the foundational building blocks it has borrowed. The game takes place in the year 2032, in an alternate reality where President John F Kennedy was never assassinated but instead worked with the Soviet Union to launch the Talos 1 space station. Waking up in the space station as either the male or female version of Morgan Yu, the player embarks on a journey to rediscover the past of a protagonist we are given no information about at first. This is a decidedly mundane storyline, in what should have been a race against time to stop the alien threat aboard Talos 1 from making it’s way back to Earth. Continue reading...