The world may be moving to ‘the cloud’: heralded as the ultimate repository for data and ease of access in the modern age. However as the latest leak from the Pentagon has showed, the cloud is just as susceptible to security flaws as other methods. 100GB of data was left on a public Amazon cloud […]
Cloud Nein: The Dangers of Offsite Storage Read More »
I would like us all to try something a little unusual today, if only as a sort of thought experiment to help cut out some of the noise we have been constantly being bombarded with on a daily basis over the last year or two. Put to one side the mainstream media and politicians’ rants
Putin’s real agenda Read More »
The future is now, with algorithms under development to predict the likelihood that individuals will offend. But is this another safety net to catch criminals or a step towards a Minority Report culture where ‘the system’ itself becomes the danger? Durham Police force is currently operating the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART) which analyses social
HART to HART: is there a place for pre-crime? Read More »
Russia is currently facing multiple allegations of interference in the 2016 US Presidential election, but it now seems that the state has been doing far more behind the scenes, with the exposure of a “troll factory” that sees agents attempt to force the narrative of political events to their own ends. Social media has allowed
The War Of The Words Read More »
Saudi Arabia is in the news again, and not always for the right reasons. Already in the middle of a war of words with Iran, and in proxy conflict with Qatar, the internal security of the country was broken this week with a sudden crackdown necessitating the arrest of eleven princes and political figures. The
Saudi Arabia: Reforms In The Pipeline Read More »
An old expression of the 1900s was ‘Quel Panama’: essentially, what a disaster. The first attempt to cut the Panama Canal went so badly, with hundreds of deaths, that the expression was used to derogatorily refer to things that seemed impossible to fix. The latest revelations concerning the offshore Caribbean habits of the rich and
Trouble in Paradise: More Offshore Papers Revealed Read More »
As the Middle East becomes the world’s pre-eminent business destination and a financial powerhouse, bad actors are equally shifting their attention to exploiting the region and taking advantage of lapses in security. Any effort to preserve the security of the region must be met with as much inward defence as outward planning. Much of the
Desert RATS: cybercrime in the Middle East Read More »
The biggest anti-government demonstration in recent Turkish history took place in 2013, sparked by the government’s plan to turn Gezi Park, Istanbul, into a shopping mall. In the ensuing melee, eight died and thousands were injured. In response, President Erdogan declaimed: “For what? Twelve trees!” Leaving aside the glib nature of this comment and the
Turkey and the twelve trees Read More »
The tragic death of blogger and investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia earlier this week has shone a light, intentionally or otherwise, on the corruption and ‘dodgy dealings’ prevalent on Malta. Far from the aim of becoming a major EU financial centre, the island has become a seeming hub of financial crime of all kinds and,
The Maltese Full Con Read More »
Two highly controversial referendums have taken place in recent weeks, with both Catalonia in Spain and Kurdistan in Iraq claiming the right to self-determination and outright independence, and both being loudly (and forcefully) shouted down by their mother governments. While the ultimate outcome of the process is of course significant in both regions, it is
Iraq: Independence Day? Read More »
