Category: Security

A musing about social media and ‘Black Friday’…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Education, Information Technology, Learning, Legal matters, Security, social media

It’s ‘Black Friday’ in the UK on Friday and High Street and online businesses are marketing their ‘epic deals’. This year the Badger’s received a plethora of email notifications from organisations warning to be wary of online shopping scams as ‘Black Friday’ approaches. One from a UK bank has the opening line ‘Did you know that 70% of online shopping scams start on social media?’  Yes, the Badger already knows this. It’s just one of many facts about social media that illustrates that diligent wariness is necessary when using these platforms.

Today the public feel uneasy about the world which is the most unsettling and unstable it’s been for decades. Global tensions abound. Politics is highly polarised. Economies are fragile. Conflict abounds. Shocks are more frequent. Power seems to rest with the handful of billionaires that dominate the digital world, and so on. Earlier this week, the Badger and a plumber friend chatted over a seasonal mince pie and coffee about factors that may have facilitated the instability the public observes. The internet is to blame, the Badger’s friend suggested. However, we dismissed that and decided instead that while social media can’t be blamed for all the world’s woes, it has certainly played a part.

We concluded this because social media platforms often say they are ‘free speech zones’ while simultaneously curating communication to protect their own business models. They are, after all, not democracies but huge, controlled, money-making ecosystems where the primary liability for what’s posted rests with the poster, not the platform. The persistent misinformation, disinformation, and offensive, inflammatory, and deceptive material that can often be encountered on them polarises opinions and facilitates scams from any part of the globe. The US President’s suing of the BBC, we decided, simply illustrates that there’s one rule for social media and another for everyone else. Why? Because the platforms often provide equally reprehensible edited videos that appear to go unpunished. Many will disagree, but we decided that social media has poisoned attitudes and thus contributed to fuelling an unsettled world.

The message here is not that social media is completely bad. It’s simply a reminder to understand their underlying business model and to think carefully about what you post or view. Think about whether your social media interactions are contributing to the very unsettled and disrupted world we are currently experiencing. Remember that these platforms are not the bastions of free speech that many would have you believe. Free speech, at least here in the UK, existed long before the advent of giant money-making social media platforms. Finally, take care when shopping online for ‘Black Friday’. Be wary of ‘limited time’ or ‘selling fast’ offers from organisations with social media profiles that don’t seem right. If something looks too good to be true, then it’s probably not what it seems…

Cyber security – a ‘Holy Grail’?

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI, Business, Information Technology, Online Safety, Online Services, Privacy and Surveillance, Public safety, Risk, Security

King Arthur was a legendary medieval king of Britain. His association with the search for the ‘Holy Grail’, described in various traditions as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers and, sometimes, providing eternal youth or infinite sustenance, stems from the 12th century. Since then, the search has become an essential part of Arthurian legend, so much so that Monty Python parodied it in their 1975 film. Indeed, it’s common for people today to refer to any goal that seems impossible to reach as a ‘Holy Grail’. It’s become a powerful metaphor for a desired, ultimate achievement that’s beyond reach.

Recently, bad cyber actors – a phrase used here to refer collectively to wicked individuals, gangs, and organisations, regardless of their location, ideology, ultimate sponsorship or specific motives – have caused a plethora of highly disruptive incidents in the UK. Incidents at the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Harrods, JLR, and  Kido  have been high profile due to the nature and scale of the impact on the companies themselves, their supply chains, their customers, and also potentially the economy. Behind the scenes (see here, for example) questions are, no doubt, being asked not only of the relevant IT service providers, but also more generally about how vulnerable we are to cyber security threats.

While taking in the colours of Autumn visible through the window by his desk, the Badger found himself mulling over what these incidents imply in a modern world reliant on the internet, online services, automation and underlying IT systems. As the UK government’s ‘Cyber security breaches survey – 2025’ shows, the number of bad cyber actor incidents reported is high, with many more going unreported. AI, as the National Cyber Security Centre  indicates, means that bad actors will inevitably become more effective in their intrusion operations, and so we can expect an increase in the frequency and intensity of cyber threats in the coming years. The musing Badger, therefore, concluded that organisations need to be relentlessly searching for a ‘Holy Grail’ to protect their operations from being vulnerable to serious cyber security breaches. As he watched a few golden leaves flutter to the ground, the Badger also concluded that in a world underpinned by complex IT, continuous digital evolution, and AI, this ‘Holy Grail’ will never be found. But that doesn’t mean organisations should stop searching for it!

These damaging incidents highlight again that cyber security cannot be taken for granted, especially when the tech revolution of recent decades has enabled anyone with a little knowledge and internet access to be a bad cyber actor. The UK government’s just announced the introduction of  digital ID by 2029. Perhaps they have found a ‘Holy Grail’ that guarantees not only the security of personal data, but also that its IT programmes will deliver on time and to their original budget? Hmm, that’s very doubtful…

Smartwatch, traditional watch, or both?

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Online Services, Public safety, Risk, Security, Smart & New Technology, Smartwatches, Technology

Is there a smartwatch from the likes of Apple, Samsung, Huawei and others, on your wrist? A decade ago, smartwatches were essentially novelties for tech enthusiasts. Today they’re mainstream. In the ten years since Apple unveiled its first watch  they’ve become a popular, wrist-worn, command and control centres for time, date, productivity aids, communication, fitness and personal health.  Globally there are more than 450 million smartwatches in use, and the number is expected to rise to ~750 million by 2029. Many people are turning to smartwatches from traditional mechanical/ automatic watches because they do significantly more than just tell the time and their capabilities continue to expand as technology marches on.

So, does this mean the traditional wristwatch, which first appeared in the 19th century, will soon be obsolete? Many say yes, but the Badger thinks otherwise. A traditional mechanical/automatic watch performs its purpose of providing the time and date  extremely well. Accordingly, it’ll be around for many decades yet because it has design simplicity, is robust, doesn’t require frequent battery charging or software updates, and is immune to cyber threats. Traditional watches provide their core function – the time and date – in aesthetically pleasing hardware that can be chosen to suit any lifestyle or occasion. Many think that a traditional watch’s lack of connectivity to today’s online world is a disadvantage. On the contrary, the Badger thinks it’s an advantage.

Smartwatches, of course, come in many guises but one thing fundamentally drives their design, namely convenient access to the services and information that underpin the rhythm of life in the modern digital world. Their manufacturers routinely enhance their design, functionality, and usability as a wrist-based hub for time, date, and things like voice and message communication, activity and fitness tracking, and personal health monitoring and diagnostics. As a convenient computer on our wrists, however, they are yet another screen that grabs attention. They need regular battery recharges and software and security updates to protect against cyber threats. Like smartphones, there’s also a better model coming soon!

So, are smartwatches rendering traditional mechanical/automatic watches obsolete? No. Why not? Because most people today understand the dangers of the digital world, and they are increasingly aware from world events of the inconvenience and turmoil that can ensue when key energy, communication, and online infrastructure is damaged. Their smartwatch could be rendered useless in such circumstances, whereas a traditional mechanical or automatic watch will continue to deliver its core function, time and date, unabated. So don’t ditch your traditional watch for a smartwatch, have and use both (as the Badger does). You will then always be able to access the time and date on your wrist should a digital disaster occur. The obsolescence of traditional watches is a long way off because in the current world climate it’s prudent to have non-digital contingencies for unexpected digital difficulties…

Once upon a time there was the Strategic Defense Initiative (Starwars)…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI, Conflict, Defence, Information Technology, Intelligent machines, Risk, Satellites, Security, Space, Technology

There comes a time when a room at home needs a decorative refresh. That time recently came in the Badger household, and so he deployed his practical skills to refurbish the room himself. The project was planned, agreed with an important stakeholder (the wife), and fastidiously executed. The room’s now in the post-delivery phase with the small list of defects pointed out at acceptance by the important stakeholder now corrected. Painting walls listening to good music playing on the radio during the project proved a more satisfying experience than expected. On finishing one wall, and while stepping back admiring his handiwork, the Badger found himself listening to the broadcaster’s regular news bulletin and sighing deeply on hearing that President Trump had unveiled plans for a ~$175 billion US ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system. Memories of President Reagan’s 1983 Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) came flooding back.

The goal of SDI was to develop a system that could intercept and destroy incoming nuclear missiles, effectively shielding the USA from a potential Soviet attack during the Cold War. Many dubbed it ‘Star Wars’ because of its proposed use of space-based technology. At the time, the Badger was working on the software design and development of a Relational Database Management System (RDMS) product – pretty cutting edge at the time. He remembers thinking that SDI would never come to fruition. Indeed, SDI itself was never fully realised, but its ideas have shaped military technology and policies in Missile and Space-based defence, Cybersecurity strategy, and International Collaboration ever since.

Rolling forward 40 years, the world is a quite different place geopolitically, technologically, economically, and militarily. Daily civilian and military life now depends on digital capabilities that didn’t exist in 1983, and continued rapid tech advances, innovation and AI are changing both domains at a rate never imagined just a few decades ago. Reagan’s SDI initiative and President Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ share some similarities, but whilst the available tech in 1983 meant the former’s space-based missile defence was largely theoretical, President Trump’s benefits from modern, real, sophisticated satellite, space, sensor, and missile technologies. ‘Golden Dome’ revives elements of SDI but it also suffers from some of the same challenges, particularly, around cost, scepticism about its effectiveness, and concern that it dramatically escalates the global arms race. It’s certain, however, that just as happened when SDI was announced in 1983, military and tech sector commercial organisations will be relishing the prospect of picking up ‘Golden Dome’ contracts regardless of whether its stated ambitions will ever fully come to fruition.

But why did the Badger sigh so deeply on hearing about ‘Golden Dome’ on the radio? It was simply an instant reaction to the feeling that it’s another step on the road to creating the Terminator film’s SKYNET system for real, and that our species seems intent on a path that can lead to eventual self-inflicted extinction.

Security: People are always the weakest link…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Education, Information Technology, Privacy and Surveillance, Public safety, Security, social media

The Badger tried to suppress a giggle when the accidental inclusion of a journalist in the US administration’s Signal group chat hit the media. He failed. On watching the US President on television call the journalist in question a ‘sleazebag’, the Badger laughed aloud as the proverbial idiom ‘pot calling the kettle black’ came to mind. The administration’s subsequent bluster about the journalist’s inclusion and the group’s messages has not been its finest hour. Asserting that the military attack information shared was unclassified is, for most independent observers, just ludicrous. Indeed, the whole episode raises many questions, not least being whether the administration’s senior echelons actually respect and adhere to standard security policies and protocols.

Signature of the UK Official Secrets Act and being thoroughly vetted for a high level of security clearance were pre-requisites for the Badger’s first IT projects. Security has thus been an embedded ethos throughout his working life. Sometimes the constraints imposed by security policy and associated processes were frustrating, but the Badger has learned that a cavalier approach to compliance is never a good idea. Rightly, clients and his employer had zero-tolerance for any kind of security misdemeanour. Indeed, on the rare occasions over the years when a security mishap occurred, the situation was quickly rectified and the culprit dealt with swiftly and definitively. Something similar may be happening behind the scenes following the Signal incident, but the US administration’s public messaging doesn’t imply this to be the case.

Later in his career, the Badger was asked to oversee the operations of his employer’s security department. The head of the department expanded the Badger’s appreciation of security matters pertinent to premises, personal safety, vetting, and cyber threats. The department head emphasised the need to keep in mind just one phrase, namely ‘people are always the weakest link‘, when it came to security doctrine. This has proved to be wise advice over the years, and the recent Signal incident simply reinforces the point.

Today, the use of Signal, WhatsApp, X, and social media platforms is rife in the general public and in political and governmental circles. The Signal incident is a reminder for us all that it takes just one participant to leak the substance of a group chat for there to be a problem, and that there’s a greater chance that someone will spill the beans beyond the group when it has a large number of participants. The incident is also a reminder to think carefully about what you write in a group chat. If you don’t then you only have yourself to blame if something you have written comes back to bite you in the future. Think before you write, always, but most of all remember that technology is not normally the weakest link, people are. That’s right…you and me!

‘Crash, Bang, wallop’ and the need for more Defence spending…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Defence, Information Technology, Innovation, Public safety, Security, Technology

The Badger’s first projects on joining the IT industry involved software and systems design, development, and delivery in the UK Defence sector. The experience provided an excellent foundation on which to build a wider IT career. Problem-solving using innovative software and hardware to provide operational capabilities, working with military people who were focused on getting the job done to rigorous standards, and ensuring deliverables met strict requirements, proved invaluable in cementing the right mindset for success. The military people the Badger encountered were well-trained, capable, and passionate about having operational capabilities that were effective against potential aggressors. Indeed, employers like the Badger’s recruited many of them at the end of their military service because their discipline, professionalism, work ethic, teamwork, and leadership skills were useful beyond just work in the Defence sector.

This was, of course, some decades ago when UK Defence spending was at a level before progressive reductions due to the so-called ‘peace dividend’. Today the UK spends ~2,~3.5, and ~5 times more on Education, NHS, and Welfare Benefits, respectively, than it does on Defence. The Badger’s felt for some time that Defence expenditure must rise, especially as security and defence today relies more than ever on fast-changing, digital information, command, control, communication, and unmanned weapons, as well as the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen who put themselves in harm’s way.

Which brings the Badger to something he does grudgingly, and that’s to thank the President of the USA for demanding NATO countries increase their Defence spending! The Badger’s not a warmonger. He just believes that it’s obvious that increasing UK Defence spending is long overdue. An increase can only be good for the UK’s economy and growing our own truly indigenous digital tech capabilities. Raising Defence spending will create more  high-value tech jobs, boost our natural flair for innovation, and help us hold our own in a fractious, tech-dominated world. That, however, is the limit of thanks to the USA’s democratically elected President and administration.

The Badger was creating a playlist of novelty songs when he saw the public berating and ejection from the White House of  Ukraine’s President on television. Having added ‘Crash, Bang, wallop, what a picture’  and  ‘Hole in the Ground’  to the playlist, the Badger immediately sensed that both had relevance to what he’d seen. The USA administration’s bullying of Ukraine, its coveting of Canada and Greenland, and its crass comments about the warfare experience of its allies, adds weight to why UK Defence expenditure must rise. For the average person in the street this side of the Atlantic, trust is hard-earned, easily lost, and hard to re-establish. Trust that the USA is a reliable ally is rapidly evaporating. More strained relationships with those embarked on a particular style of Making America Great Again looks inevitable, but that’s nothing to fear because history shows we are resilient in the face of adversity.

The price for being a Digital Citizen…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Digital Transformation, Information Technology, Life, Online Safety, Online Services, Privacy and Surveillance, Risk, Security, social media, Tech for social good

The vast majority of people are now ‘digital citizens’. There are many definitions of what being a digital citizen means, but the Badger thinks the term simply describes anyone who regularly uses the internet, online services, and IT to engage with social society, business, work, politics, and government. Becoming a digital citizen, in the Badger’s view, starts when any individual acquires an email address and then shares information online, uses e-commerce to buy merchandise, uses any other online service, or simply browses the internet. Everyone reading this is a digital citizen.

The Badger’s been a digital citizen for more years than he cares to admit to, but over the last decade he’s become circumspect and increasingly alarmed by the deterioration in responsible use of online technology and the internet by individuals and organisations. Yesterday the Badger helped an elderly neighbour carry their shopping bags the last few metres to their doorstep and was invited in for a quick cup of tea as a thank you. During the ensuing conversation, the Badger’s neighbour, a sharp 85-year-old ex-civil servant, mentioned they were a digital agnostic who strongly believed that the digital world has produced a surveillance society. They have a point, especially when you consider the following.

Supermarkets know what we purchase and when from our online transactions and use of debit and loyalty cards. They use this data for their business and to market products to us via, for example, voucher and loyalty point schemes. They don’t sell the data to others, but its theft by bad actors via security breaches can never be ruled out. The same is true for other retail companies. And then there’s the online giants like Amazon, Google, and Meta et al who capture so much data about our interests, behaviours, and habits that they often know more about a person than the person knows about themselves. All of this coupled with the fact that energy, transport, banking, central and local government functions are now also ‘online first’,  just reinforces the fact that the data describing our personal lives is in the digital ether and can be used for purposes which are invisible to most people.

Putting this together holistically with the fact that the UK has one of the highest densities of CCTV cameras amongst Western countries, with approximately 1 camera for every 13 people, it’s difficult to deny that the digital world has produced a surveillance society in barely 25 years. The price for being a digital citizen is thus personal acceptance of more and more surveillance. But here’s an interesting thought to end this musing with. Digital citizens are not just victims of surveillance, they are perpetrators too! Anyone who has checked out others using social media or internet searches has essentially engaged in surveillance. The digital world has thus made us all spies…

Once privacy has gone in the digital world, it’s gone…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Online Safety, Privacy and Surveillance, Security

Sitting quietly under a parasol, beer in hand, observing a beach full of people enjoying  the recent sunny weather, triggered fond memories of days at the same beach in the 1970s. How things have changed since then! Today, those on the beach are, let’s put it tactfully, ‘bigger’. (The average British man is around 7.62 cm taller, and 10.4 kgs heavier than 50 years ago). Adults with tattoos are commonplace, whereas in the 1970s tattoos featured primarily on seafarers and unruly motorcyclists. When soaking up the sun’s rays today, most beachgoers are using their smartphone or tablet for social media and surfing the internet, for taking copious photos and videos, and for streaming music or watching movies. Printed newspapers and magazines, portable transistor radios and cassette players, and cameras requiring photographic film – all commonplace at the beach in the 1970s – are a rare sight on the beach today.

As he quaffed his beer, the Badger reflected on how the digital world has changed our lives since the 1970s, a decade when pen and paper dominated, a computer was programmed with cards or paper tape, and an affordable electronic pocket calculator was a great leap forward! Way back then, what we take for granted today was science fiction. Progress, however, always comes at a price, and today’s frequent security breaches, data thefts, IT system problems causing widespread disruption and inconvenience, and misinformation, disinformation, and scurrilous content on social media, all expose the fact that part of this price has been an erosion of personal privacy.

When today’s world is typified by things like those reported here, here, here, here, and here, and AI- produced, deepfake video, photos, and audio are ever more commonplace, then people who value their privacy must be wary, clear-headed, and ruthlessly objective about protecting it, much more so than in the 1970s. The Badger, observing the beachgoers liberally using their personal devices, asked himself whether they were doing so with their privacy in the forefront of their mind? Were they conscious of how many online enterprises know their email address, contact details, their likes and dislikes, what they buy and when? Were they conscious that there is a reasonable probability that their personal data has been leaked in cyber-attacks? Were they aware that a deep fake of them can be produced by anyone with scurrilous intent in the digital world from a single image, ~40 seconds of speech audio, and a few cheap AI tools? The Badger’s doubtful.

The advent of the digital world since the 1970s has brought many benefits, but it’s been at the expense of eroded personal privacy. Who’s to blame? Well, blaming others misses the point because protecting our own privacy starts with our own actions and behaviours. So, if you value your privacy, then think very carefully whenever you upload content to the virtual world, because once privacy’s gone, it’s gone…  

A walk in the woods, swarms of drones embodying AI, and fly spray…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI & Robotics, Drones, Information Technology, Life, Public safety, Security, Technology

A walk in the woods is good for body and soul, especially in the Spring when bluebells abound. Every walk is memorable in some way, as a couple of encounters reminded the Badger recently. The first encounter involved wildlife. A vixen with two cubs emerged from the undergrowth and sat in the middle of the path to stare at a stationary Badger drinking from his water bottle. They were ~3 metres away, unfazed by human presence, and nonchalantly disappeared back into the undergrowth after about a minute. The second encounter happened ten minutes later as the path bisected an open expanse of scrubland. It was with a police officer landing a drone which had been used in a successful search for someone who’d failed to return from walking their dog in the area. ‘That’s a useful bit of kit’, the Badger quipped to the officer. ‘Yep, but a drone swarm would be better’, the officer responded adding that whereas people knew that individual drones are routine tools for many, swarms embodying AI warrant greater public awareness.

Drones vary in shape, size, function, and sophistication. Everyone has some awareness of them through their appearance in many movies (see here for example) over decades. The capabilities of drones imagined in such movies are today either a reality, or soon to be so. Drones are a growth area. Indeed, the UK Government has envisaged  that 900,000 commercial drones could be operating in UK skies by 2030.  Drones have long been tools in many commercial sectors (e.g. agriculture, energy supply, and property marketing), in the media/broadcasting, and with hobbyists and the TikTok generation, and so this vision seems possible. Drones are also already key tools in law enforcement where they help in monitoring major incidents, events, suspects, crime scenes, traffic, and in the search for missing persons. Military use of them is common and rapidly expanding for reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and lethal force, as readily illustrated in the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts. Military drone use continues to expand (e.g. see here ), and swarms of drones embodying AI will eventually transform  military operations even more dramatically. It thus seems inevitable that drone swarms will eventually become a regular facet of civilian life too.

Personal security and safety advice for when you are away from your home has long centred on being aware of your environment and listening to and observing the behaviour of those around you. With drone swarms on the horizon, we should now be observing and listening to what’s in the sky too! Of course, someone will eventually produce a drone countermeasure for personal use by anyone in the general public. Now that’s an off-the-wall thought to end with, probably triggered by learning that fly spray and insect repellent are essential when walking through woods in the warm Spring sunshine…

AI, spooks, and red poppies…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI & Robotics, Ethics & Regulation, Information Technology, Life, Online Safety, Public safety, Risk, Security, Technology

The UK weather at this time of year is often variable, and this year is no exception. Rain last night decimated Halloween’s ‘trick-or-treating’ and sightings of ghostly spirits, at least in the Badger’s locality. However, those at this week’s global AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park will no doubt have some fun ‘spotting the spook’ because there’ll inevitably be ‘spooks’ from shadowy organisations in their midst! The summit brings together governments, leading AI companies, and many others to consider the risks associated with rapidly advancing AI technologies, and how these can be mitigated via international coordination and regulation.

Given that it’s barely a year since ChatGPT was launched, the fact that this summit is taking place is encouraging. But will something tangible emerge from it? The Badger’s quietly hopeful, even though governments and regulators have historically been glacial and have only acted once a technology is already well-established. The UK government, for example, has taken almost 20 years to establish an online safety law to limit the harms caused by social media. AI pioneers have themselves voiced concern about the threats, and it will be a catastrophe if it takes another 20 years to limit the potential harms from this field of  technology!

With Halloween a damp squib, the Badger’s thoughts about the AI Safety Summit roamed fancifully influenced by November’s Guy Fawkes Night and Remembrance Sunday which are just days away. ‘Spooks’ from the shadowy organisations providing intelligence to governments will certainly push for more sophisticated AI capabilities in their operational kitbag to ensure, for example, that the chance of a repeat of Guy Fawkes’ 1605 attempt to blow up Parliament is infinitesimally small! Militaries will also want to develop and use ever more advanced AI capabilities to enhance their physical, informational, and cyber operational defensive and offensive capabilities. Inevitably, lessons learned from current conflicts will fuel further military AI development, but whatever any future with AI looks like, the Badger thinks that red poppies and  Remembrance Sunday will remain an annual constant.

The Badger’s grandfathers, and his father and father-in-law, served in the British Army in the two World Wars of the 20th Century. They rarely spoke about their experiences, but they were proud to have fought for the freedoms and way of life we take for granted today. Now all passed away, what would they think about the threat that AI poses to our future? Just two things; that an identified threat should always be dealt with sooner rather than later, and that we must never allow Remembrance Sunday to wither on the vine of time because it’s a reminder to everyone that it’s man who makes sacrifices to protect freedoms, not machines.

‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.’