Category Archives: Technology

Britain, Government, Scotland, Society, Technology

Body cameras are an essential tool for police officers

POLICE SCOTLAND

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Digital cameras are an essential accessory for police officers. They would be useful in the prevention and detection of crime.

Police Scotland have been conducting trials in the north east of video cameras attached to their uniforms. This follows the lead of several other British forces, including the Metropolitan Police in London.

Consideration is now being given to a roll-out of the technology which has been long proved as an effective tool in convicting wrong-doers. British Transport Police (BTP) has also demonstrated its usefulness, not least in Scotland.

Over the last nine years, deployment of body-worn cameras by BTP have been utilised on both the rail network and Glasgow subway, particularly so during major sporting fixtures. Their use has shown cameras can protect officers and improve the evidence for the prosecution.

Support for body cameras has been openly voiced by the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, which said they could bring vast economy savings to the justice system by increasing the number of early guilty pleas.

That in itself could significantly free up precious police time by relieving officers of the need to spend hours in court – waiting to provide oral testimonies and evidence they are never called on to give – because the accused has decided to change their plea at the last minute.

Ministers, too, have highlighted the merits of making better use of digital cameras, particularly in relation to gathering additional evidence that could be used in court.

The Scottish Government’s digital justice strategy, written some three years ago, said they would also enable officers to make better operational decisions, help to increase the personal safety of police officers, and that such accessories would be useful in the prevention and detection of crime.

Such a stance has also received the endorsement of Police Scotland Chief Constable Phil Gormley, who added that regular use of body cameras would result in fewer complaints against officers, with a likely increase in public confidence of the police service. Police routinely receive abuse from members of the public, but if those people are on camera, they may well think twice before doing so.

The main problem with greater use of cameras is the cost involved when the force’s budget is so stretched, as has been raised by the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers.

Technical challenges also exist in getting the equipment up and running, issues of technological reliability, and the storage and accessibility of digital footage.

If the pilot scheme in the north east of Scotland has ultimately been a success, however, then it makes great sense to spread the practice across the rest of the country. Where technology is available to improve law and order, it should be made available to our officers to help them fulfil their duties – particularly given the precarious and dangerous situations officers can sometimes find themselves in.

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Arts, Government, Politics, Russia, Society, Technology, United States

The terrifying era of internet warfare

CYBER WARS

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America’s CIA says Vladimir Putin was behind Russian hackers’ bid to swing the U.S. presidential election. As the fallout continues, cyber wars are only at the infancy stage of the internet-war era.

SINCE the presidential election result was announced in November, America has become an embittered battlefield. The role of Russia in securing Donald Trump’s victory has caused fierce controversy.

The CIA, America’s intelligence agency, has asserted with “high confidence” that Kremlin-directed hackers were responsible for the revelation through Wikileaks of thousands of Democratic Party emails, derailing the Hillary Clinton campaign wagon just at a crucial moment during the election when Trump was in trouble over his misogynistic attitudes and appalling treatment of women.

In sensational developments last month, intelligence officials said that Russia’s President Putin was personally involved in the hacking campaign.

If that was not enough to spark intense unease in Western capitals, a spokesperson for President Obama launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Trump, saying that it was “obvious” he knew about the Russian interference in the election.

The President-elect dismisses as “ridiculous” the charges that the Russians helped to place him, their avowed friend, in the White House. Few even among his foes suggest that he won solely thanks to the hackers. But the 2016 U.S. election has highlighted the extraordinary influence now wielded by the internet upon every aspect of our world.

The former U.S. Secretary of State, Dr Henry Kissinger, wrote presciently in his 2014 book World Order: ‘Presidential elections are on the verge of turning into media contests between master operators of the internet . . . whose intrusiveness would have been considered only a generation ago the stuff of science fiction.’

What is most chilling, however, is the speed with which cyber conflict is now evolving.

America’s Information Operational Technology Centre was created in 1998 to spy on actual and potential enemies, corrupt their digital networks, and even by controlling their computers. Its early operations were unimpressive. During the 1999 bombing of Kosovo, its geeks made Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic’s telephone ring incessantly, which seems merely to have annoyed him.

Before one anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Americans took down an Al Qaeda website, blocking the planned release of a propaganda broadcast by Osama bin Laden. Afterwards, however, counter-terrorist officers bitterly protested that all that had been achieved was to alert Al Qaeda to the vulnerability of its communications.

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Banking, Consumer Affairs, Society, Technology

Changes to security codes on bank cards…

CONSUMER AFFAIRS

A CREDIT CARD with a constantly changing security code is being launched in an attempt to prevent fraudulent transactions.

The three numbers on the back of the card will be replaced by a digital display randomly generating a new combination every hour.

Oberthur Technologies, a digital security company, is in talks with UK banks about introducing the technology and has said the cards will be used by French customers by the end of the year.

The security code on the back of most credit and debit cards is required to make payments online.

Fraud in the UK involving cards, remote banking and cheques totalled £755million in 2015, with more than 20,000 victims.

The mini-screen on the new cards is powered by a small battery designed to last three years.

A cyber-security expert within the industry, said: ‘It’s surprising it has taken so long for this to appear. The technology has existed for some time so now it will be a case of persuading card processors that it is worth doing.’

The insider added: ‘It may be costly for card operators as some extra infrastructure will be required to ensure our cards stay synchronised with the operator, but it happens already for many banks with the dongles they use for login [to online banking].’

One drawback of the card is that customers will no longer be able to memorise their security code and will need to check every time they want to make an online purchase.

The French banks Societe Generale and Groupe BPCE are preparing to issue the cards to customers after a successful pilot scheme last year. They are also being tested in Mexico and Poland.

In another development in digital security, MasterCard has announced that it has developed technology that could allow online shoppers to send a ‘selfie’ of themselves to prove their identity when they make a purchase.

It would do away with the need for passwords used as an additional level of security to the three-digit code. But passwords can be difficult to remember, stolen or intercepted.

Master Card customers currently use a system called SecureCode to verify their identity while shopping online. The process can result in shoppers abandoning their purchase or having the transaction declined if they enter the password incorrectly.

The ‘selfie’ password system involves customers downloading an app to their mobile phone and registering by taking a photo of themselves so their face is stored in the system.

To authorise a payment, they look into the camera and must blink to verify they are not just holding up a photo of someone else. Customers will be able to use a scan of their fingerprint instead of a selfie if they prefer.

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