British spies urged to use artificial intelligence to fight security threats April 27, 2020 British spooks will need to use artificial intelligence (AI) to fight a range of threats to national security, according to a report published today. Intelligence agencies have been urged to use the technology to detect and block cyber attacks, analyse video and audio evidence, and automate administrative tasks. However, AI is unlikely to predict upcoming [...]
UK tech sector launches industry body to tackle online harms April 27, 2020 The UK tech sector has teamed up with government agencies to launch a new trade association aimed at cracking down on harmful material posted online. The Online Safety Tech Industry Association (OSTIA), launched today, will bring together more than a dozen tech firms that focus on online safety, as well as organisations such as the [...]
Facebook launches group video chat feature in blow to Houseparty April 24, 2020 Facebook today unveiled a new group video call feature for its Messenger app in a move that could sound the death knell for pandemic rival Houseparty. The joinable group calls, dubbed Messenger Rooms, will allow up to 50 people to discover and drop into “rooms”. The rooms, which can be created directly from Facebook or [...]
Google to cut marketing budgets by up to half and freeze hiring April 24, 2020 Google is said to be slashing its marketing budgets by as much as half as the tech giant begins to feel the impact of the coronavirus crisis. In internal emails seen by CNBC, Google told marketing employees the budgets would be cut in the second half of the year, while new hiring would be frozen [...]
Google forces advertisers to prove identity in transparency push April 23, 2020 Google today said it will require all advertisers to complete a verification process before buying ad space on its platform as the tech giant looks to improve transparency. In a blog post published today, Google said advertisers will need to submit personal identification, business incorporation documents or other information that proves who they are and [...]
Apple prepares to sell Mac computers with its own chips from next year April 23, 2020 Tech giant Apple is reportedly preparing to sell Mac computers with its own processors by next year, based on designed used in its iPhones and iPads. The tech giant is working on producing Mac chips based on the design of its A14 processor in its next iPhone, Bloomberg reported. Apple has used processors made by [...]
Exclusive: UK tech startup confidence slumps amid Covid-19 crisis April 22, 2020 Confidence levels among tech startups have slumped since the start of the year as the coronavirus crisis takes its toll on the UK’s thriving tech sector. Just 32 per cent of businesses are confident or very confident that their turnover will increase in the year ahead, City A.M. can reveal. This marks a quarterly drop [...]
Snapchat shares jump as coronavirus lockdown boosts user numbers April 22, 2020 Snapchat has reported a sharp spike in user numbers during the first quarter as millions of people turned to the social media app during the coronavirus lockdown. Parent company Snap said daily active users rose 20 per cent year on year to 229m in the first three months of 2020. Revenue also grew 44 per [...]
Netflix subscribers surge as millions stream shows during coronavirus lockdowns April 21, 2020 Streaming giant Netflix signed up 15m new subscribers in the first quarter of the year, double the number it expected, as millions of viewers binged boxsets at home during global coronavirus lockdowns. The surge in subscription numbers was more than double the 7m net new subscribers that the company had forecast. The company also beat [...]
Coronavirus: UK spooks block 2,000 scams in Covid-19 cyber campaign April 21, 2020 British spy chiefs have taken down more than 2,000 online scams linked to coronavirus in the last month as they crack down on cyber criminals trying to exploit the health crisis. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it had closed down 471 fake online shops selling fraudulent virus-related items, as well as 555 malware [...]