Another week, another round of Tech News to sink your teeth into. This week we look at deepfakes, ‘silent stealing’, cybersecurity weaknesses, zoom fatigue and lockdown laptops. So, grab a brew, and get clued up on the industry latest:
Would you like to see your deceased relatives again? Genealogy site MyHeritage has introduced a tool which uses deepfake technology to animate the faces in photographs of dead relatives. Called DeepNostalgia, the firm acknowledged that some people might find the feature "creepy" while others could consider it "magical". It said it did not include speech to avoid the creation of "deepfake people".
It comes as the UK government considers legislation on deepfake technology. The Law Commission is considering proposals to make it illegal to created deepfake videos without consent. Read more here.
Conning people out of as little as £10 on a mass scale has become the new tactic by cyber fraudsters who are taking advantage of people now working from home during the pandemic. A Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank paper said a phenomenon dubbed "silent stealing" has begun as criminals are "going down market" from big money scams.
They warned people to be careful with what they share online, with fraudsters employing social engineering techniques, which use that information to craft personal phishing emails to trick recipients into handing over their details. Read more here
The biggest problems in cybersecurity contributed to the ongoing hacking campaign that weaponized a product update from IT software company SolarWinds, lawmakers and witnesses said at a hearing Friday before the House Oversight and Homeland Securities committees. Whether it's a lack of cybersecurity personnel, poor communication between private companies and the federal government, or the absence of global standards for acceptable espionage hacking, longstanding issues all came into play.
Solutions have long been in the works, but they weren't enough to stop a suspected Russian hacking group from accessing systems at nine federal government agencies and about 100 private companies. We wrote about the full hack here.
Sick of staring at your own face? You’re not alone. If you've ever felt utterly drained after a workday where the only physical activity you did was refilling your coffee while taking a series of video calls, Stanford researchers now have a name for that feeling: "Zoom fatigue." Although the scientists behind the new study, published February 23 in the journal of Technology, Mind and Behavior, are quick to point out it can happen on any video calling platform, they now say they have a better idea why Zoom fatigue happens.
Researchers say Zoom fatigue comes down to four primary causes: excessive and intense eye contact, constantly watching video of yourself, the limited mobility of being stuck at your desk and more energy spent identifying social cues you'd pick up on intuitively during in-person interactions. Read more here.
More than 85,000 laptops and tablets have now been offered to improve the lives of school children who do not have a device at home. The BBC's Give a Laptop scheme launched in January to help children with their online lessons while schools were closed due to lockdown. Members of the public and businesses have been donating devices which are then distributed to those in need.
Campaigners say donations will still be needed when face-to-face lessons resume on 8 March to give pupils equal access to technology required for homework and to prepare for exams.
If you can lend a hand within the Birmingham area, we have an initiative live with the WoW Group to provide devices and connectivity to local pupils. Read more here.