(^8) DAILY MIRROR WEDNESDAY 04.03.
DM1ST
Voice of the
c isis needs r
cool heads
WASH your hands, stay calm and carry
on may be sound advice, but coronavirus
spreading in Britain requires cool heads
to avoid both panic and a pandemic.
When the potential number of fatalities
could run into the thousands, tens of thou-
sands or even hundreds of thousands, the
importance of preparing for the worst while
hoping for the best couldn’t be clearer.
Tory Minister Michael Gove’s dismissal of
experts couldn’t sound more stupid when the
crisis requires answers from the best brains.
The situation will worsen if we lose our
heads, with up to a fifth of the workforce off
sick during the epidemic potentially creating
a giant financial black hole in the economy.
Doing much of what we usually do, including
keeping schools open instead of withdrawing
children in fear, is the bulldog spirit for which
our nation is famed the world over.
The Queen staying calm and carrying on in
her gloves shows us all the way forward.
t ory health tax
NHS prescription prices rising in England
by another 15p to £9.15 focuses attention
on a sickening Tory rip-off.
If Labour in Wales and the SNP in Scotland
can keep them free, surely the Conservatives
in Westminster could do so, too, instead
of Boris Johnson continuing to levy what is
effectively a medicine tax.
The same is true of car parking when it’s free
at most Welsh and Scottish hospitals, while in
England, private operators are allowed to
fleece patients and visitors.
Labour promised at the last election to axe
parking costs and make prescriptions free in
England. Voting Tory sustains unfair, expen-
sive Conservative penalties.
Phil re-Genesis
DAD-BAND Genesis announcing they are
reforming is a fresh start for Phil Collins
and the wrinkly rockers.
After what was a major break-up, music fans
will be watching to see if the former band-
mates still have the Invisible Touch.
security and privacy risks. There
are risks with, for example, remote
desktop software among others.
“These might allow hackers,
companies or governments to gain
access to your device.
“The best way to protect your-
self is to keep your laptop up to
date – updates often include the
latest security patches. There is
also a lot of good advice available,
for example from Doteveryone’s
“be a better internetter” campaign.
See doteveryone.org.
uk/project/betterin-
ternetter.
Mobiles
Like laptops, your
phone is unlikely to
be listening but Mr
Moore says it is still
“possible”. Your apps are
more of a concern than the
device. He says: “Are they listening?
I’d have to say they’re not, but it is
possible. It’s all about managing
risk and how much of a target you
are. A CEO of a big business is far
more of a target than someone
who isn’t high profile.”
Dr Benjamin says: “Smart
phones often come with lots of
pre-installed apps, and these can
get around some of the restric-
tions that are usually put in place
to protect users. For example,
some of the Google Play Store
safety restrictions that control app
privileges can be bypassed with
pre-installed apps. This is particu-
larly common with cheaper
phones. Best bet is to uninstall
unwanted or unused apps.”
Smart home apps
Dr Benjamin says: “Smart homes
are increasingly common but
connecting your energy systems
to the internet can be dangerous.
There’s the risk your home could
be hacked, but also privacy risks
from the companies that manage
these devices.
“Your central heating patterns
can give away when you are home
or away, whether that’s being off
for a couple of weeks while you’re
on holiday or the daily rhythms of
your family. Smart meters make
this even worse, with electricity
usage information being able to
even pin-point
which film you
are watching
based on how
your TV energy
use changes
over the course
of the film.
Always check
the privacy
agreements when installing smart
home devices and
protect yourself by
changing default pass-
words.
“You can often find
security reviews
online that analyse
devices for other
issues like hard coded
admin passwords. As
soon as you are
sending utility infor-
mation through a
company’s server,
you are exposing
some of your daily
habits to them.”
Social media
Mr Moore says social
media apps, like Facebook, Twitter
and WhatsApp, aren’t listening to
us, but know a lot about us.
He says: “There are huge ques-
tions around social media apps
listening in to your conversations.
“It’s not been officially proven
but I don’t believe social media
apps are listening, purely because
if they were it’d be a huge scandal.
“It may not be listening into you
but every time you post it’s reading
the key words you’re writing
about, the hashtags. If you
post a photo of a baby a
lot, they’re going to
make the assump-
tion you’re a new
parent.
“You may say
something in conver-
sation then notice that
advert coming in the next
week. That doesn’t neces-
sarily mean they’ve been
listening.It comes back to the algo-
rithm. It’s incredible how much
these firms know.”
Dr Benjamin says: “A problem
can happen over time as apps seek
more access to your device or
data. This is known as ‘permission
creep’ and often comes along with
new functions.
“It’s good practice to check the
permissions your apps have and
disable any that feel unnecessary
or invasive. As with phones,
uninstall any apps you don’t use.”
spy
tech
snoopers
fears the high-tech devices we
rely on so much can actually
be used to spy on us.
Here, we ask experts if we
are the targets of sinister
snooping, how to stay safe and
reduce the risks online...
by rhian lubin
Smart speakers
You may rely on an Alexa or a
smart speaker to play music, time
the oven or turn lights off and on.
But this convenience comes at
a price. Experts agree they can be
a huge problem when it comes to
privacy. Dr Garfield Benjamin, a
post-doctoral researcher at Solent
University, said:
“Smart assistants
are privacy night-
mares. They can
tell when you
say ‘Hey Alexa’
b y c o n s t a n t l y
listening in.”
Jake Moore, a
cyber security
specialist at
internet security
c o m p a ny E S ET,
agrees. He says: “If you’re going to
buy a smart speaker, you’re
effectively putting a surveillance
bug in your home.
“They know a tremendous
amount about us from these
devices. They’re there to hear you,
say ‘Ok, Google’ and ‘Hey, Siri’ to
kick in and do what you want.
“Smart speakers use clever algo-
rithms, it’s extremely valuable
information, they can listen out to
those words. It’s going to learn the
characteristics.”
Dr Benjamin
recommends turning
your microphone off
when not using your
speaker or, if you’re
really concerned,
don’t have one at all.
Baby monitors
Monitors connected
to the net are now a
major concern for
privacy. Their security
is under scrutiny after
hackers could talk to
kids through them.
The National Cyber
Security Centre
advises people to
tweak settings and
update the easy-to-guess pass-
words.
Dr Benjamin warns that even if
you trust the makers security is
not often a priority.
“They could have security
vulnerabilities that might allow
anyone on the internet to watch
your kid or giving legitimate users
access to each others’ feeds.
“There have even been cases of
hackers being able to talk to chil-
dren through the monitors.
“If you want a video monitor, try
to choose one you can disable
remote access. You should change
default passwords and set up two-
factor authentication to make it
more difficult to hack into.”
He advised to research known
security issues with the device or
the firm before trusting it with
video of your children.
Laptops
Laptops can get infected with
malware and other viruses.
Dr Benjamin says: “A particular
risk with laptops is the fact that
they have a built in camera. This
creates a privacy risk.
“Even the former FBI director
James Comey recommended
covering over your laptop camera
with tape – it’s something that he,
Mark Zuckerberg and many secu-
rity experts do. Laptops are quite
complex systems and that adds
TECHNOLOGY is crucial to
our lives, from phones and
laptops to central heating.
But after owners of online
baby monitors were hacked by
cyber criminals, there are
Safety worries for devices
screen
tests
Keeping an
eye on info
fear
Speaker
COnTrOler
Thermostat
TargeT Phone
majOr COnCern Baby monitor
cri SiS management
I myself am prepared to self isolate..
either at an agreeable country
house or a luxury villa on Mustique,
supplied by somebody or other, let’s
not get bogged down in details..
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
#1