The popularity of Zoom has hit a new high in the UK government, which has been warned over its use of the service following a number of high-profile security incidents.

The video conferencing service has seen a huge rise in users over the past few months due to global lockdowns put in place by coronavirus, but with this boom has come increased scrutiny.

This included warnings from the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) over Zoom's level of safety, including cyberattacks and possible data privacy issues.

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Zoom security

"Zoom is being used for unclassified communications in Government under unprecedented circumstances," a Government spokesperson told The Mirror.

“Other services are in place for more sensitive communications, and the availability of these services is being increased to meet the demand of more staff having to work remotely."

However an FOI request by the Parliament Street think tank has found that a total of 731 Zoom licences have been ordered by the main Government departments since the beginning of the outbreak. 

This includes 550 Zoom accounts purchased by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), 150 from the Cabinet Office, 15 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), eight from the Home Office and five from the Treasury.

These six key departments were also found to have heavily invested in new devices to enable employees to work from home, with 41,300 new laptops, tablet computers, and mobile phones acquired in order to help staff remotely.

This figure included 27,589 new laptops, 4,011 tablet computers and 9,700 mobile phones, with the MoD again investing the most, purchasing 13,500 new laptops (and 9,467 new Microsoft Office 365 accounts), 3,263 new tablets and 2,200 new mobile phones.

This spending spree was not seen across all areas of the government though, as the Department for Transport and the FCO both revealed that they had not purchased any new devices in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.

“The Covid-19 crisis has seen millions of new users sign up to Zoom to host meetings and provide important updates to employees working remotely," noted Paul Farrington, EMEA, Chief Technology Officer, Veracode.

"However, in recent weeks a series of security missteps and bugs have been discovered, which raise fresh questions about the cyber risks and privacy issues associated with online conference systems. 

"With this in mind, it’s critical that key government departments are cautious if using the platform for sensitive meetings, around national security, and public health. With cyber attacks on the rise, it’s also crucial that users ensure they have downloaded the latest versions of these applications, to prevent hackers from gaining access and stealing data.”

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The global demand for video conferencing services shows little sign of slowing down after Google Meet passed 50 million users.

The milestone represents a 900% growth in user numbers in recent months, with Google Meet reaching five million downloads at the beginning of March.

The service has benefited hugely from the growth in video call software following global lockdown to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

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Google Meet downloads

Google Meet became free for anyone with a Google account earlier this month, letting users make video calls with up to 100 participants without paying a penny.

Previously, Google Meet was only available to businesses with a premium G-Suite account, but last month the company announced that it would be doing away with the charges and opening it up to everyone for free. 

Calls are currently limited to one hour, but Google won't start enforcing this rule until  September 30 - meaning users could chat for up to 24 hours if they so wanted.

Users can invite up to 100 people to join a meeting, which brings the service up to the level of competitors such as Zoom, with Google Meet also recently introducing a number of new features aimed at helping the service recruit new users.

Google has revealed it has now added four new features to its video conferencing software, including a tiled gallery view, low-light mode, noise cancellation, and an ability to present via a single chrome tab instead of the entire computer screen.

The addition of a Zoom-esque tiled-layout allows users to see all participants on the screen at once.

In order to combat the peril of background noise, Google Meet can filter out the noise of keystrokes or dogs barking outside. Additionally, meeting presenters will now have an option to just present a single chrome tab rather than sharing their entire computer screen during a meeting. This feature will be helpful for presenters who want to share a high-quality video, which had often been an unpredictable experience.

Google Meet is also able to leverage Google’s AI prowess to improve video quality in case the lighting is not sufficient.

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Via Android Police

Customers across the UK are reporting faults in their Virgin Media broadband connection this morning.

The outage began around 07:00 BST on Wednesday according to DownDetector, with customers flocking to social media to complain about a lack of connectivity.

A second peak of complaints followed at 08:00 BST, as millions of Brits attempted to log on to their home or work networks to start the day, with outages reported up and down the entire country.

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Virgin Media outage

DownDetector's tracking service showed high numbers of complaints in Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and London, showing this to be an apparent nationwide issue.

The outage is the second to hit Virgin Media in a matter of weeks, with the company suffering a similar event late in April 2020.

However Virgin Media said its network was handling the strain of millions of Brits now needing to work from home during the coronavirus lockdown.

The company has not acknowledged any issue online or via social media at the time of publication, despite multiple users taking to Twitter to complain.

TechRadar Pro has emailed Virgin Media for comment.

Given the current reliance on telecommunications during lockdown, frustration was perhaps more amplified than usual. Mobile and broadband networks have been essential for communicating with colleagues and loved ones, accessing business applications or education resources, and for entertainment purposes that lessen the constraints of restricted movement.

No explanation has yet been given for the problems with an investigation currently ongoing. There have been continued complaints about the service on Tuesday morning but it appears as though these are unrelated to the wider outage.

The outage is the first significant hiccup to affect the UK’s broadband infrastructure since lockdown measures were implemented by the UK government last month. Broadband and mobile providers have enacted a series of measures to support spikes in demand.

There had been fears that these networks would struggle under the weight of additional data traffic but any predicted meltdown has failed to materialise. Most networks have been built to withstand peak demands, while major streaming services have reduced transmission quality at the request of the EU. The signs are that the dramatic growth on traffic has now plateaued.

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Some of the top Huawei devices on the market today won't be able to download and use the coronavirus contact-tracing app being developed by the NHS.

NHSX, the body behind the contact-tracing app, currently being trialled in the Isle of Wight in preparation for a nationwide rollout, has admitted that only "the majority" of Huawei devices users will be able to use the tool due to incompatible software.

This includes the Huawei P40 Pro, the company's newest flagship device launched earlier this year, but the first such device to not run on Google's Android software.

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Huawei ban

"The majority of those with a Huawei phone will be able to download and use the app given most devices are running Android and can use Google Playstore," NHSX said in a tweet. 

"For the small number of Huawei devices that use the AppGallery, NHSX is working to provide support."

Following a number of bitter recent disputes with the US Government, Huawei had its access to Google's Android software blocked in 2019, with new launches and existing devices both affected.

The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro devices, released earlier this year, were the first flagship devices affected by this ban, running the Chinese firm's in-house AppGallery marketplace. This has meant that many popular Google apps, including YouTube, Gmail and the G Suite selection of services are unavailable on these devices.

NHSX says that it is working with Huawei to provide support to the app, which is hoped to roll out across UK soon. NHSX released the code behind the NHS Covid-19 app last week, making the beta version of the app open-source for developers around the world.

The app is also thought to not run properly on "some older" mobile phones, although it's not yet been revealed what exact devices this includes. 

BBC Solent reported that compatible devices would need to be able to run Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and to be running either Apple iOS 11 upwards or Android 8 upwards. This has raised concerns about the elderly or at risk members of the population, many of whom do not update or buy new devices regularly.

TechRadar Pro has contacted Huawei for comment.

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Remote workers are now more reliant on video conferencing tools than email as the nature of work continues to change.

Figures from job search site Milkround has revealed that video conferencing is creeping ahead of email as the most utilised form of business communication in isolation.

The company surveyed over 2000 UK workers, finding that tools such as Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams are all helping workers across the country stay connected, work efficiently from home, and in many cases - find new jobs.

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Video conferencing tools

Milkround, which focuses on helping students and recent graduates find roles, notes that this new technology revolution is proving beneficial for younger workers.

The report notes that while digital communication has increased by 22 percent for the average UK worker, it has only spiked by 11 percent for Gen Z employees.

Nearly two-thirds (60 percent) of so-called "Gen Z" are revealed to be more productive at-home than when in the office; compared to only 18 percent of other UK workers. A similar proportion (62 percent) of Gen Z say they prefer working remotely than in the office, compared to only 37 percent of older workers.

Overall, 69 percent of UK workers agree that the younger team members are better suited to lockdown working, and 60 percent recognise that younger workers often help older colleagues with their tech queries.

And despite 25 percent of Gen Z workers being furloughed, a huge proportion (81 percent) say they are confident they can secure a new job through video conferencing, if needed. Around 1.8 million young workers are using video conferencing tools to interview for new roles, with Zoom (44 percent), Microsoft Teams (23 percent) and Skype (20 percent) the most popular platforms. 

“The state of flux that the graduate employment market has been in since the start of lockdown has instilled a reliance on technology, and specifically video conferencing platforms," said Georgie Brazier, Graduate Jobs Expert at Milkround. 

"It is no great surprise that younger workers are more at ease with using these platforms. What has been reassuring is that these younger workers are taking to video conferencing platforms to secure new job roles too. Their longstanding use of social media to communicate has set them in good stead for the lockdown. Gen Z and Millennials are now benefiting professionally from their use of social media platforms. Despite not having as much experience in the workforce as other colleagues, they are leading the way during isolation by leveraging their innate tech savvy skillsets.”

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EE customers have been told to take care concerning any messages they receive from the company following the detection of a dangerous new phishing threat.

Security researchers at Cofense have uncovered a new spear-phishing campaign that spoofs messages from the UK's largest mobile phone network, to try and steal personal information. 

The emails detected by the Cofense Phishing Center used official EE imagery, luring victims with the subject line "View Bill -Error". The message within reported there has been an issue with the customer's payment, urging them to update their details with EE.

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EE phishing

The campaign appears to largely target the login and payment details of corporate executives, which could give hackers access to lucrative business networks.

However clicking on the hyperlink included in the email (pictrued below) takes the victim to a phishing page. Although this fake page sports a supposedly-secure HTTPS URL, this looks to be down to the hackers obtaining SSL certificates to make the site look legitimate. 

After completing the form on the fake site, which in the process sends this information to the criminals, the user is then redirected to the actual EE login site, making them think their session may have timed out, or their password was typed incorrectly.

Cofense notes that users can often spot phishing emails due to errors and shortcomings in the design of the messages, despite the use of legitimate-seeming design. The team note that in this example, EE’s trademark and company name is not included in any part of the full email address, which instead comes from a completely separate domain.

Having an updated and thorough cybersecurity platform is also vital in protecting users from threats, as the page still seems to be live and active now.

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Remote workers have been warned to take extra care when using video conferencing software after a new phishing scam was uncovered.

Researchers from security firm Cofense have revealed hackers are using emails pretending to be from Skype, the popular Microsoft-owned video calling tool, in order to trick home workers into handing over their login details.

Criminals could then use these logins to access corporate networks to spread malware or steal valuable information.

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Skype security

The report, released by the Cofense Phishing Defense Center (PDC) saw attackers creating an email that looks eerily similar to a legitimate pending notification coming from Skype. If an unsuspecting recipient goes to “review” the notification, they are redirected via an app.link to a phishing page designed to harvest your password.

The use of .app top-level domains (TLD) adds an extra layer of deception to the attack, as this TLD is backed by Google to help app developers securely share their apps. 

An .app domain also requires the use of HTTPS to connect, adding security on both the user’s and developer’s end - in this case, making the victim consider they are clicking on a legitimate link.

Cofense says that such fake emails can be detected through checking the "sent from" field, as although the sender address may appear legitimate at first glance, the real sender can be found there, exposing them as a fraud. 

TechRadar Pro has contacted Skype for comment.

Video calling apps such as Skype have seen a huge rise in users over the past few weeks as employees around the world transition to working from home.

However this growth has also revealed a number of security worries, with Zoom in particular having several issues highlighted. Even though the platform has seen its users base surge to 200 million, it has been heavily criticised for failing to stop Zoombombing incidents and for sending data to Facebook and China.

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Remote workers are being targeted by a wide-ranging new online scam looking to steal business logins.

Researchers at security firm Cofense have uncovered a phishing campaign masquerading as emails from HR departments.

The scam targets employees who are still getting used to working from home, tricking them into giving away credentials such as login details through fake remote working enrolment forms.

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Fake HR

Cofense found that the hackers were exploiting the popular Microsoft Sway application to steal credentials and host phishing websites. 

Sway is a free application from Microsoft that allows employees to generate documents such as newsletters and presentations and is commonly used by professionals to conduct their regular day to day work tasks.

The criminals used this service to create and send out emails containing subject lines such as ‘Employee Enrollment Required’ and ‘Remote Work Access.' Claiming to come from "Human Resources", and phrased to resemble official internal communications the email asks the recipient to click on a link to enroll in an remote working policy.

However clicking on this link sends the victim to a fake phishing site, where their credentials are stolen and potentially sold on.

Cofense says it has detected multiple instances of such scams, and warns that as they often used legitimate domains and URLs, these campaigns went undetected for a long periods of time, which could mean a large number of accounts were compromised.

"As employees have rapidly shifted to remote working, threat actors have started to look at ways they capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic to spoof new corporate policies and legitimate collaboration tools to harvest valuable corporate credentials, a trend we anticipate will only continue to gain steam in the foreseeable future," Kian Mahdavi from the Cofense Phishing Defense Center wrote in a blog explaining the threats.

Cofense recommends employees take extra care when reading all emails, even those claiming to come from their employer, and check links by hovering their cursor above the hyperlinked text to ensure it is directing them to a legitimate site.

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Many organisations are failing to get the most out of cloud computing systems despite the wide range of benefits on offer, new research has revealed.

A report from Dell Technologies and Intel claims that only 5% of organisations are experiencing the benefits of cloud, meaning many firms are potentially missing out on supercharging their computing power.

The report, which surveyed over 1,250 IT decision makers around the world, added that the supposed complexity and cost of cloud computing was behind the decision for many businesses, despite the advantages cloud could provide.

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Cloud ready

Several issues were found to be concerning businesses, even as many companies continue to offload their workloads to a range of cloud services. 

In the UK, over three-quarters (77%) of organisations agreed that using public cloud or multiple cloud services alongside on-premises infrastructure have added complexity to IT operations. And globally, over a third (38%) of companies praised hybrid cloud initiatives for helping raise values through achieving cloud management consistency.

This is perhaps surprising given that nearly two-thirds (64%) of organisations had said they were set to increase spending on public cloud services in 2019, and the study also finding that nearly 7 out of 10 global IT decision makers believed increased cloud management consistency would help contribute to an average of 19% lower overall costs.

“It’s great to see that more organizations are seeing the value in multi-cloud IT environments," said Nigel Moulton, Global Chief Technology Officer, Dell Technologies.

"However, with only 5% having achieved cloud management consistency, a large proportion of organizations are still not experiencing the vast and lucrative benefits that this approach has to offer. It’s clear more must be done to align and simplify these hybrid environments.”

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Thousands of Zoom accounts are being put up for sale online, new research has revealed.

An investigation by security firm Cyble found that more than 500,000 Zoom accounts are up for sale on the dark web and notorious hacker forums, raising more questions over the safety of the popular video conferencing app 

Cyble found that Zoom accounts are often sold for less than a penny each, with some even given away for free to hackers looking to test out so-called 'Zoombombing' attacks.

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Zoom dark web

Zoom has seen a huge level of scrutiny in recent weeks as its user base has soared due to the rise of working from home during the coronavirus outbreak.

The company has faced severe criticism after reports surfaced of traffic being routed through China. It has also been slammed for a lack of proper security and encryption measures and other privacy-related issues such as hackers being able to eavesdrop into calls, records of meetings available publicly on the internet, and uninvited attendees able to hijack calls.

Zoom announced earlier this week that it has appointed former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser as safety and privacy concerns, and has also halted development of software updates to focus solely on safeguarding its service.

Among the other institutions to have blocked the use of Zoom so far are the German Foreign Ministry and the entire Taiwanese government.

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Via Bleeping Computer

Google has continued the reshaping of G Suite with a rebranding of its Hangouts chat and collaboration service.

Hangouts, which allows users to chat online, will now be known as Google Chat in the enterprise edition of Google's productivity suite, according to The Verge. 

The move marks the complete removal of the Hangouts brand from the enterprise version of G Suite, although the Hangouts name will still live on as part of Google's consumer-facing chat software. 

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Google Chat

This version of Hangouts was spun out of the infamous Google+ social network back in 2013, and will not see any changes, the company said in a statement to The Verge. This means that desktop Gmail users, as well as iOS and Android users, will still be able to use Hangouts in the same way.

The rebranding to Chat may cause some initial confusion, as Google gave the same moniker to its RCS-based Android messaging service, announced only a few months ago.

The company's videoconferencing service, previously known as Hangouts Meet, is also getting a refresh. The news was revealed in a Google Cloud blog post, which unveiled the service's new title of Google Meet.

Google Meet will need to move fast to ensure it stays at the front of mind for enterprise users in what has become a crowded market in recent weeks. Many user may have already pivoted to using video conferencing services such as Zoom in response to the global need to work from home following the coronavirus outbreak.

The service has already seen a huge surge in users, with Google revealing that Meet's usage was 25 times larger than what it had seen in January, gaining around two million new users every day.

Last month Google decided to extend some features of Meet, such as allowing 250 participants in video calls and live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers on a domain, to help people stay connected during this trying time. These features are normally only available to G Suite Enterprise customers but the search giant decided to offer them to all of its G Suite customers until July 1, though this deadline has now been extended until September 30.

According to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, Google Meet racked up two billion minutes of video calls in March and during that time, the service grew by 60 percent day over day. 

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Via The Verge

Google has announced a crackdown on adverts around misguided conspiracy theories concerning a link between coronavirus and 5G networks.

The search giant has said it will be banning advertising on search terms and keywords that relate to “misleading health claims” surrounding 5G and coronavirus.

The news follows a number of attacks by conspiracy theorists on 5G masts across the UK, despite repeated advice from scientists that there is no link between the global pandemic and the high-speed networks.

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Coronavirus conspiracy

According to The Telegraph, Google says that the adverts fall under its sensitive events policy, which has been in place since January, when the coronavirus began to spread outside of China into other countries.

This looks to prevents companies and individuals from profiteering from public health emergencies by blocking their adverts from appearing in search results.

Earlier this week, scientists, the UK government and the country's mobile industry joined together to plead for the spread of misinformation to stop. As well as attacks on masts, telecoms and networking infrastructure workers have also faced abuse and assault.

Recent guidance from the International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) took into account more than two decades of research and concluded there was absolutely no risk to public health.

Anti-5G campaigners have argued next-generation-networks can cause a range of health problems despite the fact that the entire body of research available refutes these claims, while World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations are that 5G is safe.

The UK government has ordered social networks to do more to prevent the spread of misinformation, while England’s National Medical Director Stephen Powis said: ““The 5G story is complete and utter rubbish, it’s nonsense, it’s the worst kind of fake news.”

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Via The Telegraph

The recent rise in employees working from home is causing a huge number of potential security risks to businesses, new research has claimed.

A report from security firm Centrify has revealed that nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of UK businesses think that home working is putting their organisations at risk.

Nearly half (46 percent) have already noted an increase in phishing attacks targeting their networks and data since implementing a policy of widespread remote working. Much of the UK has had to work from home where possible over the last few weeks in order to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

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Risks

The research, which surveyed 200 senior business decision-makers at large and medium-sized UK firms, also found that 79 percent of organisations have increased their cyber security procedures to manage high volumes of remote access over the coming months. 

The survey also noted additional fears that IT systems are at risk, with over half (53 percent) saying they believe that privileged IT admin remote access is at risk of security breach.

But there are signs of preparation for this increase in threat, with 73 percent of businesses providing staff with extra training on how to remain safe when working remotely, including specific training concerning verifying passwords and log-in credentials.

“It is essential that businesses and employees remain vigilant during these challenging times," said Andy Heather, VP, Centrify.

“Organisations of all sizes must prioritise security protocols when transitioning employees from an office to a remote working environment. This includes introducing professional training for all employees on how to operate IT and online infrastructure safely, and how to spot unusual or potentially malicious activity.”

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Microsoft has unveiled major changes to its software offerings by rebranding existing consumer-facing Office 365 subscriptions with an all-new offering under the Microsoft 365 brand.

The new Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans will be available on April 21, with users automatically carried over. 

So far there's only US pricing available, with a single-user Personal account priced at $6.99 per month, and a Family subscription, which can be accessed by up to six users, costing $9.99 a month.

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Microsoft 365 updates

Microsoft says that around 38 million people worldwide currently subscribe to Office 365 across Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. These users will be moved over to the new Microsoft 365 service soon, keeping the 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage per person at no extra cost. 

Described as, "the subscription service for your life," the new offering still include access to the full suite of Office programs such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, with Microsoft promising a number of new features gradually rolling over the coming months.

This includes a new Microsoft Family Safety app which will let families share their location, sending notifications when your family member leaves home, work, or school, as well as letting parents track driving routes to make sure kids arrive home safely.

The services, which will also be available as an iOS and Android app for Microsoft 365 subscribers, also lets parents manage screen time across Windows PCs, Android, and Xbox.

Microsoft Teams is also set to get a consumer-friendly makeover, allowing families to plan activities, trips and share their calendars together. 

The new Teams will still allow for group chats, video calls and real-time collaboration, but instead of spreadsheets or business presentations, looks to help with items such as shopping lists and birthday planning.

Elsewhere, there is also a major update to Microsoft Editor, which can now offer rewriting suggestions to essays or dissertations. The service can now insert citations to existing works with just a click, helping cut down on plagiarism, allowing students and teachers a smoother editing experience.

For those that need to then present their documents, PowerPoint offers a new Presenter Coach feature, which looks to help make you a better public speaker. Offering feedback in real time, the tool monitors your tone of voice, speed of speaking and how often you stop or stutter in order to improve all aspects of your presentations.

Excel now makes it easier to manage finances and budgeting with a new Money in Excel feature. Developed alongside money management firm Plaid, this allows users to track spending, connecting to your bank accounts to bring in transactions and balances, as well as sending alerts on spending or changes.

Lastly, Outlook now allows users to link a personal calendar to your work calendar, making sure you never miss an appointment for family matters, and there's an Android launch for Play My Emails, which sees Cortana read out your messages, so you can catch up on emails hands-free, even when driving or travelling.

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Facebook has announced it will be cutting the streaming quality on its sites, including Instagram, as part of a campaign to try and reduce the strain networks caused by the coronavirus outbreak..

The social media giant is aiming to help ameliorate the stress being put on internet conections as more people work from home due to the virus shutting down offices worldwide..

The main Facebook site will be affected by the restriction, as will Instagram, with the new regulations being rolled out across Europe this week.

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Facebook streaming cut

“We are committed to working with our partners to manage any bandwidth constraints during this period of heavy demand, while also ensuring people are able to remain connected using Facebook apps and services,” said a Facebook spokesman.

Several other major streaming services have also limited services to try and minimise the strain on networks, with Netflix and YouTube taking such measures last week after a request by the European Union.

Brussels asked streaming services to limit content to standard definition - as opposed to high definition or 4K - and users to consider reducing data consumption.

Disney, Apple, and Amazon have also confirmed they will lower streaming quality. Domestic broadband is well equipped to handle evening traffic surges, but social distancing and quarantine policies introduced by governments across the globe are further aggravating these periods of high traffic.

Phone networks across the world have also seen traffic reach new highs across the past few weeks, with all the major UK operators seeing services strained.

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Via: CityAM