Samsung accelerates wi-fi speeds

13 October 2014 Last updated at 12:57

Samsung claims to have found a way to make wi-fi data travel five times faster than it does currently.

It said its engineers had overcome two significant technical problems that had restricted the transfer of data at well below its theoretical limit of 4.6Gbps.

If the technology lives up to its promise, it would mean a 1GB file could be transferred in less than three seconds.

Experts said it could take time for the tech to be built in to gadgets.

Slow start

In a short statement, Samsung said its engineers were working on wi-fi that operated in the 60GHz band.

Current wi-fi systems use 2.4 and 5GHz bands, and some can operate at speeds in excess of 1Gb per second.

Samsung said it had managed to limit the amount of interference data travelling on different channels, suffered when many devices were connected to a wi-fi hub or hotspot.

In addition, improvements to antenna had helped signals travel further and be less susceptible to getting lost while travelling. The breakthroughs mean data could travel at a rate of 575MBps (4.6Gbps).

The first devices built to use the 60GHz wi-fi standard are expected to appear in 2015. Samsung said it was planning to include the technology in TVs, medical devices, phones and smart home appliances.

"With more and more of us using a wide variety of different devices to access our photos, video, and personal data the ability to quickly transfer that data between devices is going to become even more important in the future," said Stuart Miles, founder of tech news site Pocket-lint.

"Having faster speeds will help that drastically," he said, adding that decisions still needed to be taken on frequency allocations and devices that could use the technology still needed to be built.

"It will take a couple of years for this technology to filter through to our every day lives," he said.

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South Korean ID system in disarray

14 October 2014 Last updated at 14:48

South Korea's national identity card system may need a complete overhaul following huge data thefts dating back to 2004.

The government is considering issuing new ID numbers to every citizen aged over 17, costing billions of dollars.

The ID numbers and personal details of an estimated 80% of the country's 50 million people have been stolen from banks and other targets, say experts.

Rebuilding the system could take up to a decade, said one.

Some 20 million people, including the president Park Geun-hye, have been victims of a data theft from three credit card companies.

"The problems have grown to a point where finding a way to completely solve them looks unlikely,'' technology researcher Kilnam Chon told Reuters.

There are several reasons that the ID cards have proved so easy to steal:

• Identity numbers started to be issued in the 1960s and still follow the same pattern. The first few digits are the user's birth date, followed by either a one for male or two for female

• Their usage across different sectors makes them master keys for hackers, say experts

• If details are leaked, citizens are unable to change them

• The government required net-users who wanted to deal with banks or shops online to use a Microsoft product, ActiveX, to provide a digital signature but critics say it was a simple password that could easily be duplicated

The news will be an embarrassment for a country that has gained a reputation as one of the most tech-savvy nations in the world.

About 85% of South Korea's people are online, many with super-fast net access. The country's population owns 40 million smartphones.

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Anti-Ebola text tech set to expand

14 October 2014 Last updated at 13:25 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

The operators of a text-message-based system used to advise people about Ebola in Sierra Leone aim to extend it to seven other West African nations.

The facility allows the Red Cross and Red Crescent charities to send SMS messages to every switched-on handset in a specific area by drawing its shape on a computer-generated map.

It also automatically sends back appropriate replies to incoming texts.

The charities say they hope to complete the expansion within nine months.

However, they will first require the co-operation of local mobile networks and authorities.

"It's been doing an excellent job in Sierra Leone, sending out in the region of 2 million messages per month, helping the communities there to prepare themselves, try to avoid getting infected, and then if they do, to know what to do about it," explained Robin Burton from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

"Unlike TV and radio, if we send them a text message it's retained on the phone."

The seven countries set to get the Trilogy Emergency Relief Application (Tera) system are Benin, Togo, Ghana, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Burkina Faso.

Life-saving 'spam'

Tera was initially developed in Haiti following the earthquake that struck the Caribbean country in 2010.

It was subsequently rolled out in Sierra Leone in 2013 after local network Airtel agreed to install the necessary equipment in the wake of the country's worst cholera outbreak in 40 years.

It works by allowing Tera's software to consult an operator's systems about which handsets are connected to cell towers in a selected area, and sends them a text without having to disclose the phone numbers involved to a human operator.

The kit is now being used to tackle the Ebola virus, which can cause death from multiple organ failure and dehydration. More than 4,000 people have been killed by the disease during the current epidemic in West Africa.

One expert said IFRC had a good chance of convincing the other nations to overcome any concerns they might have about joining the system.

"The thing operators might have a problem with is that they are basically being asked to spam millions of their customers, and people often object to that," said Ken Banks, an SMS expert who advises the UK's Department for International Development.

"When people in Haiti received messages asking them to donate blood that were blasted out willy-nilly some were not in a position to do so, and they found it annoying.

"But operators will find it hard to argue against helping in this particular case. No-one will want to be accused of blocking messages during an epidemic that could save people's lives, and the Red Cross probably carries enough weight as an organisation to get this done."

Staggered texts

The IFRC has, however, taken steps to ensure Tera appears as "network friendly" as possible.

Individual subscribers can opt out of receiving the texts, and operators can apply their own exclusion lists.

In addition, it is deliberately designed to only send texts to powered-up handsets to avoid the build-up of millions of undelivered messages, which could put networks under strain.

Texts can also be staggered to prevent an overload, and the operators would retain the power to cut the service at any time.

"It's location sensitive," added Mr Burton.

"So, we only send the messages to the areas that are affected. If you get a message it is relevant to you, it's not just a piece of spam."

He added that the system was cheap to operate, and once installed could also be used to provide early warnings of natural disasters and obtain feedback about relief efforts.

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Nude 'Snapchat images' put online

10 October 2014 Last updated at 17:25 By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Explicit images believed to have been sent through messaging service Snapchat were reportedly put online, with threats from hackers to upload more.

Users who had been accessing the service via a third-party app, and not the official Snapchat app, had their images intercepted.

As half of its users are aged between 13 and 17, there is concern that many of the images may be of children.

Snapchat said its servers "were never breached".

The company added: "Snapchatters were victimised by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our Terms of Use precisely because they compromise our users' security.

"We vigilantly monitor the App Store and Google Play for illegal third-party apps and have succeeded in getting many of these removed."

However, security researchers said Snapchat had to take more responsibility over user data.

"For them to just turn round and say, 'It's the users' fault,' does seem harsh," said Mark James, a security specialist from ESET.

"They give the perception it is safe, they need to make it safe. They need to crack down on people's ability to access their data."

The images were uploaded to the internet with a download link shared on a message board on Thursday night, according to reports.

The download has since gone offline, but hackers threatened to post thousands more images.

However, some doubted the authenticity of the images, suggesting many of them were duplicates or "fake".

Troubling incident

Snapchat is a messaging app that allows the sharing of videos and images that "disappear" after a short period of time, usually just a few seconds.

But according to Business Insider reporter James Cook, hackers had boasted of having access to 13 gigabytes' (GB) worth of pictures that had been intercepted over a number of years.

Speculation as to the source of the leak has pointed towards two third-party, unauthorised services that offered the ability to save Snapchat messages permanently. It suspected that at least one such service was keeping a database of all the pictures and videos that had passed through it.

The leak is yet another troubling security and privacy incident for Snapchat, said security consultant Brian Honan.

At the start of this year, 4.6m usernames and phone numbers were leaked online. More recently, the service has been suffering from spam messages being sent out from users' accounts without their knowledge.

"Has Snapchat been breached? According to the letter of the law, no," said Mr Honan.

"But people use Snapchat to keep their information secure and would expect the company to have systems and services in place to support that."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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Kmart shops hit by payment card hack

13 October 2014 Last updated at 10:41

Cash registers at 1,200 Kmart stores were infected with malware that scooped up payment card numbers for over a month, reports the retailer.

In a statement, Kmart said the security breach was discovered on 9 October and that the malware had been operating since early September.

An initial investigation suggests the cyber-thieves stole credit and debit card numbers.

So far, it is not clear how many cards and customers have been affected.

Retail target

In its statement, Kmart said no personal information, pin codes, email addresses or social security numbers were taken with the card numbers.

The malware has now been removed and the breach contained, it said, but it was continuing its investigation to gauge its full impact.

It added that there was no evidence that any of the card numbers stolen were being used to create counterfeit cards and land victims with bills for items they did not buy.

Despite this, Kmart said it would be offering free credit monitoring protection for customers to ensure any fraudulent use of their cards did not affect their credit score.

The US Secret Service, which leads investigations into financial fraud, is known to be investigating the case.

"I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our members and customers," said Alasdair James, president of Kmart, in the statement.

News about the Kmart breach comes soon after the Dairy Queen restaurant chain revealed that some of its outlets across 46 US states were hit by hackers. Malware was used to steal names, card numbers and expiration dates of payment cards at 395 restaurants.

Many large US stores have been hit by attackers that target till systems in recent months. The largest attack was against Target in which thieves stole details of 40 million payment cards.

Shawn Henry, a former FBI officer, who is now head of security firm CrowdStrike Services, said retailers needed to do a better job of detecting breaches quickly before large numbers of payment data was stolen.

The computer networks of retailers were so large that attackers were more than likely to find a way in, he told Reuters.

"This is going to continue indefinitely until people change their practices," said Mr Henry.

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'Revenge porn' illegal under new law

13 October 2014 Last updated at 12:23

People who post so-called "revenge porn" pictures and videos on the internet could face two years in jail under a new law.

The new Criminal Justice and Courts Bill will have an amendment dealing specifically with the practice.

"We want those who fall victim to this type of disgusting behaviour to know that we are on their side," said Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

Physical distribution of images will also be covered.

"The fact that there are individuals who are cruelly distributing intimate pictures of their former partners without their consent is almost beyond belief," Mr Grayling said.

He said authorities would do "everything we can to bring offenders to justice".

"That is why we will change the law and make it absolutely clear to those who act in this way that they could face prison."

Continue reading the main story

Photographs or films which show people engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way or with their genitals exposed, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public"

End Quote Definition of 'revenge porn' Ministry of Justice

The amendment will cover images sent on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. It will also include those sent by text message.

"This type of behaviour can be extremely distressing for its victims causing them significant psychological harm," said Adam Pemberton, assistant chief executive for charity Victim Support.

"We are pleased that people who commit these gross violations of privacy will now face prosecution, and victims of revenge porn know they have the full backing of the law."

'Never acceptable'

Victims of revenge porn have found it difficult to have pictures removed from the internet.

Many sites where the images are hosted are based outside the UK, and requests to remove content are often ignored.

In some cases, asking for removal results in more attention being brought to the images.

According to information from eight police forces in England and Wales which kept data on this issue, there were 149 allegations of revenge porn made in the past two and a half years.

The vast majority of victims were women - but only six incidents resulted in police action.

Without specific legislation, some have sought legal workarounds to have images taken down - most commonly the use of copyright law.

If an intimate picture has been taken as a "selfie", the image's copyright belongs to the taker.

The new law seeks to give a stronger option - classing revenge porn as "photographs or films which show people engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way or with their genitals exposed, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public".

Minister for Women and Equality Nicky Morgan said: "Circulating intimate photos of an individual without their consent is never acceptable. People are entitled to expect a reasonable level of respect and privacy.

"It is right that those who do circulate these images are held to account, and that we educate young people to the hurt that can be caused by breaking this trust."

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1 in 3 teens meeting from social media

A third of 15 to 18-year-olds in the UK have met someone in person they originally met through social media.

The figure comes from an exclusive online Newsbeat poll of 1,015 British teenagers, put together by Comres.

The survey also indicates that a quarter feel happier online than they do in real life.

But overall, real-life relationships are still considered far more important than online ones, according to the findings.

Sixty-six per cent polled last month said the number of friends they knew in person was more important to them, compared to 28% who said the same of the number of friends and followers they had online.

The survey also suggests what lots of people know already, that social media is now an integral part of teenagers' lives. Only one per cent of respondents said they never checked in online for social reasons.

Facebook is the most popular social network (89% have an account), followed by Twitter (62%) and Snapchat (58%).

Verifying strangers

Dr Emma Short, a psychologist at the University of Bedfordshire, said the number of teenagers meeting up with people they first befriended online is worrying.

"Although we create and maintain our friendships online in a very real way, it is not safe to assume that strangers we meet online are anything other than strangers.

"Even very sophisticated security experts find it very hard to verify the identity of accounts."

"When you're 15 and you're very effective at identifying friends and risk, it's easy to assume you can do that online. It's not safe in that they may not be who they say they are and you know nothing about them apart from the conversation you've had online - which is a very small part of their lives and the person they may be."

The survey also indicated:

• 25% of teenagers admitted they were addicted to social media but 62% thought their friends were instead
• 25% wished they could give up social media
• 13% said their online friends knew them better than their real-life friends
• 51% of the respondents said they felt it important to check a notification as soon as it came through.

The need to check

"I can't do without my phone." says 17-year-old Aisha from Clapton, north London. "I can't do without checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat."

When we ask Aisha about the prospect of taking her social networks away, the consequences - genuinely - are too hard to bear.

"If all my real friends are busy doing something, and then all my social media friends are doing their own thing, I've got no-one to be with. I'm not even tired, Hollyoaks isn't on, what am I going to do? I'm all alone."

Jealousy, loneliness, happiness and stress are all emotions felt by teenagers.

Abigail, Aisha and Hayley are all self-confessed social media 'addicts'

Mother Helen and her 16-year-old daughter Frankie

In Leicester, 16-year-old Frankie admits that her phone is rarely out of her hand, checking online regularly throughout the day but says she knows how to stay safe.

"I wouldn't really add anyone or follow anyone that I don't know from someone else.

"Someone followed me the other day. They had no followers - they had one picture. I didn't follow them back because I didn't know who they were.

"I'm not going to go anywhere near that because they could be anyone and I wouldn't want to put myself in danger so I wouldn't choose to."

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

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Google: Amazon is biggest rival

14 October 2014 Last updated at 07:59

Google chairman Eric Schmidt has said the firm's biggest rival in online search is e-commerce giant Amazon.

Mr Schmidt fought back at claims that Google enjoyed unrivalled dominance of the online search market.

"Many people think our main competition is Bing or Yahoo. But, really, our biggest search competitor is Amazon," he said in a speech in Berlin.

Google is in the middle of a European Union probe into its search engine after anti-trust complaints.

In February, it avoided paying what could have resulted in billions in fines when it agreed to give equal standing to rival services such as Microsoft in its search results.

But Mr Schmidt pointed out that competition in the online world "isn't always like-for-like".

"People don't think of Amazon as search, but if you are looking for something to buy, you are more often than not looking for it on Amazon," he said.

"They are obviously more focused on the commerce side of the equation, but, at their roots, they are answering users' questions and searches, just as we are."

Amazon's big move

Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has been in the news recently for moves beyond its core e-commerce business.

In August, it bought live-streaming gaming network Twitch Interactive for about $970m (£603m), marking the biggest acquisition its 20-year history. Google was earlier reported to be in talks to buy Twitch.

However, even though Google holds the dominant position of accounting for more than 90% of the online search market, Mr Schmidt said he was still wary of the "next Google".

"Someone, somewhere in a garage is gunning for us. I know, because not long ago we were in that garage. Change comes from where you least expect it," he added.

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Call to probe UK firm over 'spying'

14 October 2014 Last updated at 10:59 By Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News

The National Crime Agency has been asked to investigate a British company for allegedly aiding the surveillance of Bahraini activists living in the UK.

In a complaint sent to the NCA by Privacy International on Monday, Gamma Group is accused of supplying software and providing support to Bahrain.

Privacy International held a press conference, where Gamma Group was not represented, to announce the action.

Gamma Group has not responded to requests for comment.

The company stands accused of aiding surveillance of three men, who all live in the UK, by supplying a piece of spying software called FinFisher to the government of Bahrain.

The activists - Moosa Abd-Ali Ali, Jaafar Al Hasabi and Saeed Al-Shehabi - appeared at the press conference in London.

The first two claimed they had been detained and beaten in the past in Bahrain but now resided here.

The third Saeed Al-Shehabi, who has lived in London for decades, said he had been concerned about surveillance and limited his contact with others in Bahrain.

"I am shocked and also a little perplexed," he said of the accusations against Gamma Group.

'Shut down their dissent'

Rights group Privacy International argues that the actions of Bahrain amount to an offence of unlawfully intercepting communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) and claims that Gamma Group - by allegedly assisting Bahrain - was liable of aiding and abetting them in that crime.

Lawyers working with the men and Privacy International said they were not aware of any precedent for such a case.

In support of its argument, Privacy International points to what are said to be internal Gamma Group logs leaked over the summer.

The campaigning group claims these show that the company was providing support to the government of Bahrain in how to use the software and trouble-shooting problems they encountered while spying on the activists.

The logs are alleged to show details of the surveillance operations, including the names of the activists and specific computers being targeted.

They reveal those using the system occasionally struggling to get the tools to work and requesting advice and support.

The surveillance software was said to have been delivered either in the form of an attachment to an email or as a fake update for Apple's iTunes software.

Privacy International claim this then enabled Bahraini authorities to have "extraordinary access" to the men's computers including the ability to read documents and emails, turn on web cameras and microphones and impersonate the men to send emails in their name.

'Evidence protection'

Privacy International said that it believed the software had the capability to self-delete and erase all records, making the logs vital evidence.

It also said it had sealed off the computers belonging to the activists to preserve the integrity as far as possible should the NCA decide to investigate.

On its website, Gamma Group describes itself as "an international manufacturer of surveillance and monitoring systems".

"We provide advanced technical surveillance, monitoring solutions and advanced government training as well as international consultancy to national and state intelligence departments and law enforcement agencies," it says.

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

The Embassy of Bahrain could also not be reached for comment.

An NCA official said its National Cyber Crime Unit "focuses on tackling the most significant and organised cyber-threats facing the UK, with responsibility for leading or supporting coordinated investigations into cybercrime".

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Russian hackers targeted Nato PCs

14 October 2014 Last updated at 13:09

Russian hackers exploited a bug in Microsoft's Windows to spy on computers used by Nato and western governments, a report indicates.

The same bug was used to access computers in Ukraine and Poland, said cyber-intelligence firm iSight Partners.

It did not know what data the hackers had accessed but speculated that it was looking for information about the crisis in Ukraine.

Microsoft said it would fix the bug.

A spokesman said that the company would roll out an automatic update to affected versions of Windows.

State-sponsored?

The hacking campaign has been dubbed Sandworm because the researchers found reference to the science fiction series Dune in the software code.

Other victims include energy, telecommunications and defence firms, delegates of the GlobSec conference about national security and an academic who was an expert in Russian-Ukraine relations.

The hacking campaign had been going on for five years, although the use of the so-called zero-day vulnerability in Windows (meaning a bug that Microsoft was not previously aware of) began only in August this year and allowed the hackers to ramp up their campaign and target more sources.

Although iSight could not say whether the hackers had ties with the Russian government, one senior analyst said he thought the campaign was supported by a nation state because the hackers were engaged in information-gathering rather than making money.

In a 16-page report, iSight explained how, in December 2013, Nato was targeted with a document purporting to be about European diplomacy but with malicious software embedded in it.

At the same time, several regional governments in the Ukraine and an academic working on Russian issues in the US were sent malicious emails, claiming to contain a list of pro-Russian extremist activities.

Polish connection

Other research firms, including F-Secure have previously reported on the Sandworm bug - albeit under another name, Quedagh.

Senior researcher Mikko Hypponen said that the malware had gone undetected for years because it had been repackaged from an even older bug.

"The malware has been around for years - it used to be a denial-of-service bot called Black Energy which these hackers have repurposed for their needs."

"The interesting thing is that when it is detected by IT staff it will show up as Black Energy, which they will see as a very old run-of-the-mill bug that didn't do much."

The iSight research team said that it was tracking a "growing drum beat" of cyber-espionage activities emanating from Russia.

The ex-Soviet states had always been the number one source of malware, agreed Mr Hypponen and, since the Ukraine crisis, he too has also seen a rise in the number of espionage-based attacks.

"Although we have also seen as many attacks from the Quedagh bug in Poland as in Ukraine and we can't really explain that," he said.

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