'Internet of things' funding pledge

9 March 2014 Last updated at 19:01

The UK government will spend an extra £45m on developing so-called "internet of things" technology, David Cameron has announced.

The pledge more than doubles the funds available to UK technology firms working on everyday devices that can communicate over the internet.

The prime minister was speaking at the CeBIT technology trade fair in Germany.

Mr Cameron said the UK and Germany could find themselves on the forefront of a new "industrial revolution".

"I see the internet of things as a huge transformative development - a way of boosting productivity, of keeping us healthier, making transport more efficient, reducing energy needs, tackling climate change," he said.

'Revolution'

"Take British ingenuity in software, services and design, add German excellence in engineering and industrial manufacturing and together we can lead in this new revolution."

The extra investment announced at the Hannover event, of which the UK is the official "partner country", will take the total being made available to £73m.

Sir Mark Walport, the government's chief scientific adviser, will now carry out a review into how these new technologies can be best exploited.

Analysts say the internet of things could transform daily life.

It allows devices from heart monitors to kitchen appliances to communicate through wireless internet connections.

US research firm Gartner predicts there will be nearly 26 billion devices connected to the internet of things by 2020.

Mr Cameron also said that the UK and Germany would work together to develop 5G, the next generation of mobile internet access.

He announced a new collaboration between the University of Dresden, King's College University in London and the University of Surrey.

"With 4G, an 800 megabyte movie takes around 40 seconds to download, with 5G that would be cut to one second," said Mr Cameron.

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Europol warning over wi-fi hotspots

7 March 2014 Last updated at 03:11 By Dan Simmons Click presenter

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Rory Cellan-Jones explains why Europol is warning people to change their habits

Sensitive information should not be sent over public wi-fi hotspots, to avoid hackers stealing it, Europe's top cybercrime police officer has warned.

Troels Oerting, head of Europol's cybercrime centre, told BBC Click people should send personal data only across networks they trusted.

He said the warning was motivated by the growing number of attacks being carried out via public wi-fi.

Europol is helping a number of countries after such attacks, he said.

Stolen data

"We have seen an increase in the misuse of wi-fi, in order to steal information, identity or passwords and money from the users who use public or insecure wi-fi connections," he said.

"We should teach users that they should not address sensitive information while being on an open insecure wi-fi internet.

"They should do this from home where they know actually the wi-fi and its security, but not if you are in a coffee shop somewhere you shouldn't access your bank or do all of these things that actually transfer very sensitive information."

Mr Oerting said Europol, which helps co-ordinate investigations into organised crime across Europe, was assisting several member states who had seen attacks carried out on wi-fi networks.

The attackers were not using novel techniques, he said, but relied on well-known approaches that attempt to trick people into connecting to a hotspot that, superficially, resembles those seen in cafes, pubs and restaurants and other public spaces.

'Man in the middle'

The attacks meant that data swapped when people communicate with a bank, shop via the web or log in to social media sites could be captured by attackers.

"Everything that you send through the wi-fi is potentially at risk, and this is something that we need to be very concerned about both as individual users but also as police," he told Click.

Mr Oerting's warning comes only a few months after the European parliament turned off its public wi-fi system after it was discovered that a "man-in-the-middle" attack was being perpetrated via the service.

As its name implies, in this attack thieves attempt to insert themselves between users and a hotspot to gather all data passing between the two points.

The warning was echoed by Charlie McMurdie, former head of the UK's cybercrime unit and now a senior security analyst at PWC.

"A lot of mainstream criminals have identified there are easy opportunities and vulnerabilities just walking down the street and exploiting wi-fi networks that exist in every coffee shop," she said.

Rogue hotspots

Large companies were also falling victim to this type of crime, said Ms McMurdie, because they were not watching out for the rogue hotspots that are regularly turning up.

Sometimes, said Ms McMurdie, attackers used hotspots to get at particular individuals rather than to grab all the data flowing from everyone using a public network.

Everyone needed to be aware of what they were putting at risk when they use wi-fi networks and the data it can potentially hand over to criminals.

"There is the need for raising awareness of what the vulnerabilities are and what you should be doing to protect yourself whether you're on the move or in a physical location," she said.

The BBC Click investigation into how safe public wi-fi hotspots are can be seen on the Click TV show this weekend.

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Slow broadband 'damaging education'

7 March 2014 Last updated at 08:45

Rural families say that lack of suitable broadband access is damaging their children's education.

A survey conducted by insurance firm NFU Mutual suggest one in five rural families have poor broadband links.

In turn this is preventing their children accessing online educational resources, the survey of 1,600 parents found.

More than a third of those with internet access said that broadband was too slow for their needs.

"As more educational resources become internet-based, country children risk falling behind their urban counterparts," said Tim Price, rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual.

"Rural communities are already falling way behind and as the digital revolution gathers pace there's a real risk that the viability of some rural businesses will be threatened and children be put at a disadvantage," he added.

Not only are rural households less likely to have superfast broadband but they are also half as likely as urban dwellers to use mobile broadband through 3G and 4G networks, the survey found.

More needs to be done to educate rural communities about the benefits of mobile broadband, thinks Sarah Lee, head of policy at the Countryside Alliance.

"Our own research suggests that rural households are less likely to use 3G and 4G but these networks are coming sooner than fixed line broadband and represent a good alternative," she said.

By 2017, the government wants to see 95% of the UK on superfast broadband - defined by the EU as speeds of 30Mbps (megabits per second) or higher.

Scottish notspots

One of the biggest issues facing rural communities is that even if the telephone cabinet in their area is upgraded to fibre broadband, the speed that they will get depends on the distance they live away from it.

"If you live 600 metres or more away from the cabinet you might as well be on dial-up," said Ms Lee.

A study of the Scottish broadband rollout conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh has found that up to a third of a million households may miss out on superfast broadband because their properties are too far away from upgraded cabinets.

Scottish government targets to have superfast broadband to 95% of homes by the end of 2017 may actually reach less than 80%, the study concluded.

Inca (The Independent Networks Cooperative Association) has set up a broadband notspot registry and is asking people with slow broadband to register in order to build up a UK-wide map of where broadband is most needed.

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'Bitcoin creator' denies involvement

7 March 2014 Last updated at 11:45

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Dorian S Nakamoto: "I have nothing to do with Bitcoin"

The man named by a magazine as the inventor of Bitcoin earlier this week has denied any involvement.

Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto said he had not even heard of the virtual currency until a few weeks ago.

Nakamoto was singled out as the man who wrote the code underpinning Bitcoin by Newsweek.

But he said that quotes attributed to him that seemed to suggest his discontinued involvement with the project had been "misunderstood".

"I got nothing to do with it," Nakamoto told a reporter on Thursday.

He was identified as the "face behind Bitcoin" in an article published online this week. A reporter spent about two months investigating the claim and tracking him down.

When the reporter - flanked by two police officers - found the 64-year-old former physicist at his home in California and asked him if he was involved with Bitcoin, he is reported to have said: "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it."

But he told an Associated Press reporter on Thursday: "I'm saying I'm no longer in engineering, that's it. And even if I was, when we get hired, you have to sign this document, contract, saying you will not reveal anything we divulge during and after employment. So that's what I implied.

"It sounded like I was involved before with Bitcoin and looked like I'm not involved now. That's not what I meant. I want to clarify that," he said.

'Unregulated and unstable'

Nakamoto said he was born in Japan and moved to America in 1959 and that English was not his first language.

The value of Bitcoin has fluctuated as knowledge of and interest in what was until recently a little-known currency has increased. It is used to bypass financial institutions, making it attractive to people who want to trade directly. That has led to a level of adoption by speculative investors and some criminal enterprises.

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The BBC's Rory Cellan Jones explains how Bitcoin works

In 2012, a leaked FBI report showed that the the agency was concerned that Bitcoin could become widely used by criminals.

The report said that the virtual currency was an "increasingly useful tool for various illegal activities beyond the cyber realm".

And, in August the following year, it was announced that the "scale of the risk posed by" Bitcoin was to be investigated by the FBI on behalf of a US Senate committee.

The entity behind it has always been known as "Satoshi Nakamoto", although it is unknown whether or not that is a pseudonym. Nakamoto insisted he had never heard of Gavin Andresen, a leading Bitcoin developer.

The latter told Newsweek he had worked closely with the person or entity known as Satoshi Nakamoto in developing the system, but that they never met in person or spoke on the phone.

Nakamoto told the AP that he would have had the technical ability to come up with Bitcoin. He said: "Capability? Yes, but any programmer could do that."

He also admitted that elements of the Newsweek story were correct. He said that he did once work for a defence contractor.

He added that he also worked on missile systems for the US Navy and Air Force and, consequently, it was necessary to keep many details of his work confidential.

Newsweek writer Leah McGrath Goodman, who spent two months researching the story, told the AP: "I stand completely by my exchange with Mr Nakamoto. There was no confusion whatsoever about the context of our conversation - and his acknowledgment of his involvement in Bitcoin."

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Abortion provider hit by data fine

7 March 2014 Last updated at 11:50

An abortion provider has been fined £200,000 for a data breach that revealed almost 10,000 people's details to a hacker.

The hacker threatened to publish the names of people who had contacted the British Pregnancy Advisory Service's website for advice on pregnancy issues.

The Information Commissioner's Office said the fact BPAS had not realised its site stored details was "no excuse".

BPAS said the fine was "out of proportion" and plans to appeal.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The British Pregnancy Advice Service didn't realise their website was storing this information, didn't realise how long it was being retained for and didn't realise the website wasn't being kept sufficiently secure"

End Quote David Smith Information Commissioner's Office

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) investigation found the charity had failed to realise its website was storing the name, address, date of birth and telephone number of people who asked for a call back for advice on pregnancy issues.

The personal data was not stored securely, and a vulnerability in the website's code allowed the hacker to access the system and locate the information in March 2012.

The hacker threatened to publish the names of the individuals whose details he had accessed, but was prevented from doing so after the information was recovered by the police following an injunction obtained by BPAS.

He was subsequently given a prison term of 32 months.

David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of data protection at the ICO, said: "Data protection is critical and getting it right requires vigilance.

'Simple message'

"The British Pregnancy Advice Service didn't realise their website was storing this information, didn't realise how long it was being retained for and didn't realise the website wasn't being kept sufficiently secure.

"But ignorance is no excuse.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We accept that no hacker should have been able to steal our data but are horrified by the scale of the fine"

End Quote Ann Furedi, British Pregnancy Advisory Service

"It is especially unforgivable when the organisation is handing information as sensitive as that held by the BPAS."

Mr Smith added: "Data controllers must take active steps to ensure that the personal data they are responsible for is kept safe.

"There's a simple message here: treat the personal information you are holding with respect. This includes making sure you know just what information you are holding and that it's subject to up-to-date and effective security measures."

BPAS chief executive Ann Furedi said: "We accept that no hacker should have been able to steal our data but are horrified by the scale of the fine, which does not reflect the fact that BPAS was a victim of a serious crime by someone opposed to what we do.

"BPAS is a charity which spends any proceeds on the care of women who need our help and on improving public education and knowledge on contraception, fertility and unplanned pregnancy.

"This fine seems out of proportion when compared with those levelled against other organisations who were not themselves the victims of a crime."

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Turkey PM warns social media sites

7 March 2014 Last updated at 12:21

Turkey's PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his government could ban Facebook and YouTube, arguing that opponents are using social media to attack him.

But President Abdullah Gul later called such a ban "out of the question".

Allegations of corruption against Mr Erdogan have been repeated on the social media sites.

The leaks included a phone conversation in which, allegedly, he and his son discussed how to hide huge sums of money. Mr Erdogan called it a montage.

His Islamist-rooted AK Party faces key local elections on 30 March.

"We will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook," Mr Erdogan told the Turkish broadcaster ATV.

"We will take the necessary steps in the strongest way." Asked if that could include barring the social media sites, he said: "Included."

He said the two sites were being used for "all kinds of immorality, all kinds of espionage".

A major corruption investigation has targeted government allies of the prime minister - and he has responded by moving hundreds of police officers and prosecutors to other duties.

Last month the AK-dominated Turkish parliament passed a new law allowing Turkey's telecommunications authority to block websites without first seeking a court ruling. It sparked violent protests in Istanbul.

Mr Erdogan said he had complained to US President Barack Obama about the activities of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The cleric runs an influential Islamist network, seen by Mr Erdogan as a threat to his authority.

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Facebook's WhatsApp purchase opposed

7 March 2014 Last updated at 14:48 By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News

Facebook's purchase of mobile messaging service WhatsApp has been opposed by privacy groups.

Mark Zuckerberg's firm is planning to buy the company for around £11bn.

Opponents want US regulators to stop the deal until Facebook provides more information on what it plans to do with the personal data of WhatsApp's users.

But Facebook said it will operate as a separate company and honour existing privacy arrangements, which include not collecting user data for advertising.

"WhatsApp built a user-base based on its commitment not to collect user data for advertising revenue," read a complaint filed with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It was drawn up by two non-profit groups, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.

They added: "Users provided detailed personal information to the company including private text to close friends. Facebook routinely makes use of user information for advertising purposes and has made clear that it intends to incorporate the data of WhatsApp users into the user profiling business model.

"The proposed acquisition will therefore violate WhatsApp users' understanding of their exposure to online advertising and constitutes an unfair and deceptive trade practice, subject to investigation by the Federal Trade Commission."

And the groups, which work on research and consumer protection online, asked the regulators to investigate the deal "specifically with regard to the ability of Facebook to access WhatsApp's store of user mobile phone numbers and metadata".

'Insulate'

Facebook, the world's top social network with 1.2 billion users, generates the majority of its revenue by showing ads that target users by age, gender and other traits.

"As we have said repeatedly, WhatsApp will operate as a separate company and will honour its commitments to privacy and security," Facebook said in a statement seen by Reuters.

Facebook announced its intention to buy WhatsApp, which has 450 million users who are able to send instant messages and other media over mobile, with cash and stock.

There is no charge for individual messages, which are sent using wi-fi or data connections, making it cheaper than SMS messaging in many cases. Other users pay around £0.60 per year subscription.

Referring to the business model, Jan Koum wrote on the WhatsApp website: "When people ask us why we charge for WhatsApp, we say, 'Have you considered the alternative?'"

Despite assurances by WhatsApp and Facebook that the privacy policies will not change, the groups noted that Mark Zuckerberg's social networking company has in the past amended an acquired-company's privacy policies.

Notably, it did so with the Instagram photo-sharing service that it bought in 2012.

Regulators must require that Facebook "insulate" WhatsApp user information from access by Facebook's data collection practices, read the complaint, which was dated 6 March 2014.

"WhatsApp users could not reasonably have anticipated that by selecting a pro-privacy messaging service, they would subject their data to Facebook's data collection practices," read the filing.

The FTC will decide whether the acquisition can go ahead and, if so, whether or not conditions should be imposed.

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Samsung launches free music streaming

7 March 2014 Last updated at 21:25

The world's biggest smartphone maker, Samsung, has launched a free music streaming service called Milk Music.

The service, currently only available on its Galaxy range of smartphones in the US, includes over 200 radio stations and 13 million songs.

Music streaming is seen as a key area of growth and many firms have been keen to tap into its potential.

But Samsung is entering a crowded market which has players like Spotify, Pandora and Apple's iTunes Radio.

Some of these streaming services can be used on any mobile device, unlike Samsung's version.

However, the South Korean firm said it was still confident of attracting users.

"We feel that while the music space is very competitive there is room for improvement," said Daren Tsui, vice president of music at Samsung Media Solutions.

Samsung said its new service would be free to download and have no adverts for a "limited time".

The firm has previously ventured into music streaming with a service called Music Hub, which was launched in 2012.

However, that was shut down recently.

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Hackers steal data from MtGox boss

10 March 2014 Last updated at 11:16

Hackers have taken over some of the web accounts of Mark Karpeles - boss of the troubled MtGox Bitcoin exchange.

The attack on Mr Karpeles seems to have been motivated by growing frustration over the actions of MtGox.

Last month MtGox stopped trading and filed for bankruptcy after finding out that $465m (£279m) in bitcoins had been lost via a security bug.

Many have called on the exchange to release more information about what happened to the lost bitcoins.

The attacks were mounted on the personal blog and Reddit account of Mr Karpeles and left the hackers in charge of both social media accounts.

The attackers used their access to grab detailed information about trading activity at MtGox. They then shared their findings by posting a 716MB file containing much of what they had found.

The material posted included an Excel spreadsheet of more than one million trades, entries from MtGox's business ledger and information about its back-office administration software.

"It's time that MtGox got the Bitcoin community's wrath instead of [the] Bitcoin community getting Goxed," wrote the hackers in a message accompanying the data dump. The word "Goxed" has been used to describe the sudden interruptions in trading MtGox imposed when it was going through technical problems before its final closure.

It was not yet clear whether the information dumps were real or shed new light on what had happened at the exchange, said Forbes staff writer Andy Greenberg.

He pointed out that although $465m in bitcoins (approximately 744,000 coins) had supposedly gone astray from MtGox, no activity suggesting they had been traded had been seen in the blockchain - the central list of buying and selling that underpins the entire Bitcoin network.

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Trust in the internet 'now missing'

10 March 2014 Last updated at 11:58

Billions of people around the world do not trust the internet, claims European Commission vice-president Neelie Kroes.

Following allegations that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone was hacked, Ms Kroes said it was clear that trust was now missing.

Speaking at the Cebit tech fair in Hanover, Ms Kroes said the future of the internet was based on trust.

"Trust can never again be taken for granted," she said.

Ms Kroes, who is responsible for the European Commission's Digital Agenda, was giving the speech to an audience which included Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron.

"The next phase of the internet will be data-centred and connectivity-driven. Cloud computing, big data, the internet of things; tools which support manufacturing, education, energy, our cars and more. The internet is no longer about emails.

"To make the 'leap of faith' into this new world, reliability and trust is a pre-condition. But when even the phone of the chancellor is not sacred, that trust can never again be taken for granted. Not only that, it is clear that for millions of Germans, and billions around the world, that trust is now missing," she said.

'Wake-up call'

Referring to Mrs Merkel's calls for a secure European communication network, Ms Kroes said that mindsets needed to be changed and protections needed to be tightened if it was to work.

European citizens should have the right to decide where their data goes, she said.

The European Commission already has proposals in place for a data protection directive that requires companies and governments to take responsibility for data, she explained.

If nations were "serious about protecting ourselves" then a voluntary approach to data responsibility is "not enough, not anymore", she warned.

Some member states, including the UK, have expressed concerns over the Commission's data protection plan saying that it could have a negative effect on business by imposing more administration on them.

Ms Kroes said the next few months were crucial for the directive and that she would be working to get it finalised this year.

She also said that information leaked by US intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden had been a "wake-up call" and people should not "snooze through it".

But it should not make people turn their back on technology, she said. Instead, protecting internet users "with more than slogans" was key to improving future online security.

The chief executive of Volkswagen was also speaking at CeBit this weekend and called on carmakers to make sure connected cars - those connected to the internet - do not become "data monsters".

"I clearly say yes to big data, yes to greater security and convenience, but no to paternalism and Big Brother. At this point, the entire industry is called upon. We need a voluntary commitment by the automobile industry," said Martin Winterkorn.

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