The government have launched their new NHS Track and Trace app, making use of the technology developed jointly by Google and Apple and deployed into modern handsets at the start of the outbreak.
Read moreNHS Track and Trace
Tag: Apple
Video Messaging
It’s an unprecedented time, with people all around the world becoming isolated in their homes, we look at some of the best video communication platforms to make your isolation or social distancing a little less solitary.
WhatsApp is probably the most popular messaging app in use. Supporting voice and video calls, group chats and file sharing it protects your communications with end-to-end encryption and is available on all platforms and the web.
Accounts on WhatsApp are free and tied to your mobile number, so no need to sign up with an email account. But this does mean you need a smartphone before you can cign up for it.
Group chats can include up to 256 people, enough for even the largest family, but video calls are limited to 4 people
You can contact us on WhatsApp here tinsleyNET
Skype
Probably one of the better known, and longest running video platforms, Skype is a goto app for many.
It’s a multi-platform service, meaning that no matter what type of phone, tablet or PC you have, you can get skype on it.
You can talk to upto 25 users at a time on the free version of Skype, ideal for setting up a family group, and you can use other features, such as remote screen sharing, messaging, Microsoft Teams (a business tool for managing meetings) and calling non-skype users via landline and mobile networks.
To access skype, the basic version is free but you’ll need a Microsoft account. If you’re on Windows 10 you can use the same account that you log into Windows with (assuming you’re not using a local only account)
Skype has been criticised in the past for it’s security, it’s been suggested that Microsoft have allowed government agencies access to ‘secure’ messages on skype. This might be something to be aware of if you’re using Skype for business, but for family communications, it’s really not an issue.
Contact us on skype: tinsleyNET
FaceTime
Apple’s facetime is one of the most used video messaging apps, which is great if all your family are embedded into the Apple ecosystem, but no use to anyone not investing into Apple.
The app is limited to only video and voice calling between other Apple facetime devices, and it’s limited to 32 users in a video conversation.
There’s no additional accounts or setup required to use Facetime, and other than needing an Apple account and Apple hardware, there’s no other fees or requirements.
Google Duo
Like FaceTime, Google’s Duo app is built around video calling only. But unlike Facetime, it’s not limited to just one platform.
Duo is accessible from Android, Apple, smart devices and from PC’s via the web, and allows conversations with upto 8 users at once.
Features like Knock Knock allow you to see the video of calling before you answer, video messenger allows you to send video clips or leave video clips if the call is not answered.
Security is achieved by end-to-end encryption. and extra features include AI overlays, meaning you can do funny things like draw a hat on your head that stays there as you move your head around, a bit like the well known overlays used on snapchat.
You can contact us on Duo here: https://duo.google.com/ or open your Duo app dial 07825650122
Google Due Update
Due now supports up to 12 users in a call
“We are grateful that Duo is helping users see their loved ones all around the world. We recognize group calling is particularly critical right now. We have increased group calling from 8 participants to 12 effective today. More to come. #AllInThisTogether #COVID19”
Sanaz, Sr. Director of Product & Design at Google, March 2020
Tweet: https://twitter.com/sanazahari/status/1243397017868460033
Jitsi
Not a well known service, but Jitsi is making itself known in areas where security is essential. The video and audio calling software is encrypted end-to-end and the same security can be used to encrypt messages on the platform.
There’s no limit on the number of participants in a group conversation, other than what your internet/hardware can cope with.
There’s no need to sign up for an account, simply head over to jitsi, start a conversation and then send the link out to others for them to join.
There are apps available for Windows and MacOS, but the focus appears to be around the web browser client, that means that accessing the service from a mobile device could be slightly tricky.
Zoom
Zoom came from the minds behind Cisco, so as you’d expect it’s robust and reliable, and has security built into the platform from the start. Used extensively in business pre Microsoft Teams, it became the video conferencing platform of choice for celebs in 2019.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, Zoom has seen it’s user base increase significantly, not only for education and business, but also in a friends and family use.
The basic free account will allow you to chat to upto 100 users for 40 minutes, for more users or a longer chat, you’ll need a paid subscription (£11.99/month/user for the Pro)
You can contact us on Zoom, start a new meeting and click invite, then send the invite to it@tinsleynet.co.uk
Spike
A less known client here, Spike is more business orientated. It brings together email, messaging, video calls and documents sharing.
Available on all platforms, the personal accounts are free as long as you’re using a recognised free email account (yahoo, gmail, hotmail etc). The limit on the free account is 10 group chats.
Facebook offer two platforms here, Messenger and Portal (the one that’s being advertised on TV a lot)
The problem with Portal is that you need to invest entirely in the portal system, that is you and the people you’re talking to need the portal hardware. And Facebook don’t have a great reputation for seeing a project through, so there’s no guarantee that in a years time Portal is still around, then the hardware you bought will be redundant.
The ‘free’ alternative is Messenger, built into the Facebook platform and then spawned as a seperate app, it can be accessed via the web or via dedicated apps on Apple and Android.
You can have upto 50 users in a video call, but they all need to have Facebook profiles.
Facebook does not have the best reputation for data security, so that’s something to keep in mind.
Contact us on Facebook messenger: m.me/tinsleyNET
Google Hangouts
Hangouts has been around since the early days of video and messaging apps. It is a solid app built for mobile and website but lacked the advertising needed to push it forwards.
Google moved it towards a more business based app when Due and Allo were released, but it’s still available on a wide range of platforms, including Apple, Android, Chrome, Microsoft and Linux.
Hangouts supports video and voice calling, and text messaging. Group calling can include up to 10 users, and users can share their desktop screens so you can do remote support.
You can contact us on Hangouts, open your hangouts app and dial +447825650122
The Chinese based chat app is widely used in China and is making it’s way into other countries via the much younger generations.
Video message groups can support upto 9 users. It’s popularity is based around the added features, including AI add ons, games and other in-app purchases.
The security of messages on Wechat has been questioned several times, with no clear response from the developers.
Others
There are plenty of other messaging apps that can keep you and your family in contact, feel free to add your own suggestions below.
#WeCanHelp
If you need help on choosing a messaging app, you can contact us below or head over to our FREE IT SUPPORT facebook group to get advice from other users, click the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tinsleyNET/
FaceApp
You can’t have helped but see the FaceApp images appearing on people’s social media, photos edited by AI to make them look older, younger or to swap genders.
You’ve probably also heard that the app is stealing your data in the background and uploading it to Russian servers.
We take a look at the app and dig into what it’s actually doing with your data.
The App
FaceApp is available on Android and iPhone, the website is https://www.faceapp.com
Privacy policy is https://www.faceapp.com/privacy
FaceApp was first released in 2017.
The app is available as a free download, with limited functionality, and a pro version with more filters to use.
FaceApp uses AI to manipulate images, making the subject look older, younger, add a smile and so on.
Why does Russia want my data?
A tweet from an app developer suggested that FaceApp was uploading massive quantities of photos from users phones without their permission, this was later quoted in an article on 9TO5Mac and other publications, unfortunately they didn’t actually check if the facts were true.
So just to help clear things up, the app is NOT stealing your data, well not in any way that Apple and Google are already doing.
What is the app doing?
The app will upload images to their servers, but only the ones you send for the AI to edit. No background uploading takes place, and only the individual photos you select are sent.
Using cloud servers to process the images will help keep the app size down, increase the speed of the image AI processing and helps keep their AI technology away from prying eyes.
The servers your photos are sent to appear to be based in America, although the company that makes FaceApp is based in Russia. This is not uncommon, as server costs and reliability in America are likely to be better than Russian based server.
The company states that most photos are removed from their servers after 48 hours. Like many other companies, they have a term that states any images sent to their servers may be used by them, royalty-free. Some may find it worrying that their photos might be used to promote this app, but this is not an unusual term in such situations. Twitter has similar terms in their usage T&C’s for example.
It’s likely that the images you send for processing are being used to help improve the AI technology used. Some have suggested this could be used to improve facial recognition algorithms, but In a statement to the BBC the firm’s chief executive, Yaroslav Goncharov, said “No, we don’t use photos for facial recognition training, Only for editing pictures.”
A French security researcher looked into what the app did when you used it, the technical details can be read in his twitter thread here: https://twitter.com/fs0c131y/status/1151270788357603328
How accurate are the FaceApp results?
There’s an article on the BBC News website where they test the app using some well known celebrities, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman and Sir Ian McKellen – you can judge for yourself the quality of the results.
Meltdown & Spectre
Intel Inside
Two vulnerabilities have been identified and made public that exploit the flaws identified in Intel processors. Read more
Intel Chip Flaw is big
Intel Inside
Intel have announced a flaw in their processors that will effect millions of computers running Intel chips from over the past decade, on Windows, Linux and MacOS computers. Read more
Apple’s High Sierra has a major security hole
MacOS root problems
Apple’s latest OS for Mac has been shipped with a major security hole that renders it venerable to access by anyone at the console, including access to your supposedly secure passwords in the Keychain. Read more
Anti-Virus
Protecting you from the video nasties…
Back in the 1970’s a ‘neat little self-replicating automata’ was released on the ARPANET (the predecessor of today’s internet) that was called “the creeper“. Not a virus in the way we think of them today, it was more of a test of code and concept, the only ‘payload’ was a line of code reading “I’m the creeper: catch me if you can”. In the following years, code would be written that became the basis of several types of virus; Worms, Trojan, Boot Sector and Malware.
The early viruses were intended to test concepts or as jokes and went out of their way to protect users data. In the late 1980’s that changed, IBM wrote a program to detect the first encrypted virus and clean an infected system, but didn’t release that to the public until a second version of the virus began to spread on the BBS systems of the day. And so began the battle between the virus writers and the anti-virus writers.
Evolving The Virus Business
Jump to today and we have many different types of computer virus and many many different viruses in each type. Viruses have become big business for criminals, with nearly all viruses designed to generate income for the coder or their superiors. The latest ransomware viruses can generate large payouts by infecting many smaller users, this is a better business model than infecting a smaller number of large companies and helps keep the virus out of the media and so out of public attention.
It’s not just Windows
Microsoft Windows was the most popular operating system in the 1990’s and as a result it became the biggest target for virus writers. This spawned the urban myth that only Windows based computers could get viruses, but that’s not the case.
The first ‘wild’ virus to spread was purely an Apple-based virus. Apple and Linux based computers have seen a recent rise in the number of viruses intended to infect them. The same goes for mobile phones and devices, Android, Apple’s iPhone and even the old Nokia phones and Windows Mobile are all susceptible to virus infection.
The rise of IoT devices, like smart TV’s, fridges, thermostats and so on have not gone unnoticed. Several recent ‘botnets’ have been shown to be comprised of a large number of infected smart home devices. Hackers have exploited the often poor security on smart devices, and the fact that many don’t get post-sales software updates to take control of them. Often the hackers are after the processing power for attacking other networks or running malware that won’t immediately be noticed by the device owner, though there have been instances of devices being specifically targeted to spy on users, making use of cameras and listening devices.
What should you do?
As an individual you may think that you’re too small to have to worry about antivirus, wrong. It’s a lot easier for virus writer to target a large number of small unprotected users than it is for them to target fewer, better protected companies.
Home users need to consider all the devices on their home network, from computers to smart devices like lights and speakers. These devices are all potential targets. It’s sensible to protect your home network at the point of entry (your broadband) and then further protect devices that can go outside your home network (smartphones, tablets etc) as well as devices that hold particularly valuable information, such as banking information, passwords for any internet accounts, and your photos.
As a company, you should be using a multi-layered security plan with a reputable antivirus application as a part of that plan. You should never use just a single product or technology, as no one product can guarantee 100% virus detection.
A company should look at perimeter and internal security, preventing hackers getting in from the internet and stopping any devices that become infected away from your network bypassing that security.
Data security is essential, both backing up and encrypting the information. Under data security laws you are required to protect any information that could identify an individual (a customer, employee or supplier for example)
#WeCanHelp
We can design and implement a security solution that suits you or your businesses needs. We can help protect all your IT assets regardless of where they are and how they are used. We can assess your existing data security and give you a report identifying good and bad practices.
Should I be FREAKing out?
Do the FREAK
It seems like only yesterday we were all being told about the Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL, and how to avoid affected sites until they had been fixed, then there was the Shellshock or Bashdoor vulnerability that meant the servers running your favourite websites were being broken into, you may even have heard of the Poodle attack that could allow an attacker to break into your SSL 3 connection, and now Freak, exploring another SSL vulnerability, albeit one that this time was practically imposed on you. Read more