Get Notified By Google If Your Passwords Are Compromised

As part of Google’s latest security updates to Chrome and Android, users will not only be alerted if any of the passwords in their Password manager are compromised but will also be given the opportunity to make a quick fix.

Quick Fix – Change Password

In the ongoing competitive battle between Google’s Chrome browser (and its Android OS) and Apple’s equivalent, Google has released new security updates. Part of the updates to the Password Manager that’s built-in to Chrome and Android is the new quick-fix feature which will enable the Google Assistant to navigate to the compromised accounts and change passwords within seconds.

Benefits

Firstly, the fact that users are alerted when a password has been compromised is valuable because if users are made aware of a problem, they can quickly take action before more damage is done, rather than simply finding out after the event (e.g. stolen data or money) and/or the password being used by other attackers after being passed on/sold on.

Secondly, having a fast-track route to a quick fix through being offered a one-click ‘Change Password’ button means that users can minimise the amount of time that they are exposed to risk, and can quickly and conveniently change a password without having to go back to the site where it has been compromised, click on the forgot password/change password link, and go through a longer process that way.

Setting Up The Feature

The feature, which is powered by Google’s AI technology (since 2018) ‘Duplex’, is available to users who have turned “Safe Browsing” on and who are signed-in and syncing to Chrome.

On Android, for example, to receive alerts if any passwords have been compromised (e.g. in a data leak on a third-party website or app) navigating to the ‘Settings’ in Chrome and selecting ‘Privacy and security’ > ‘Safe browsing’ and tapping on ‘Standard protection’ gives users the option to switch “Warn you if passwords are exposed in a data breach” to on or off.

Users can also choose to check saved passwords themselves to see if any have been exposed in a data breach. Again, this can be done via ‘Settings’ in the Chrome app, by tapping ‘Passwords’ > ‘Check Passwords’.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This is one of several new security features announced in answer to Apple’s recent iOS 14.5.1, and macOS 11.3.1 security updates, and specifically, is an answer to Apple introducing compromised password alerts with iOS 14. Clearly, being alerted and being able to check password compromises, and being able to change a password quickly and easily is likely to be very beneficial to users. Google also recently announced that it will soon be automatically enrolling its users in Two-Step Verification ‘2SV’ to improve the security of its services, but the future of authentication and verification is most likely to be ‘passwordless’ and based on biometrics. For example, last year, Google announced that users could verify their identity by using their fingerprint or screen lock instead of a password when visiting certain Google services (e.g. Pixel devices and all Android 7+ devices) due to Google’s collaboration with many other organisations within the FIDO Alliance and the W3C that led to the development of the FIDO2 standards, W3C WebAuthn and FIDO CTAP that allows fingerprint verification. Both Apple and Google may, therefore, be highlighting features based around more traditional security ideas now, but the direction of travel is away from passwords altogether.

Robot Police Dog Sent Back With Tail Between Its Legs

It has been reported that NYPD has cancelled its contract with the company that supplied its ‘robot dog’ after the robot’s militarised appearance increased tensions with civilians at a difficult time for police relations.

What Robot Dog?

The robot ‘dog’ nicknamed ‘Digidog’ was ordered last year by the NYPD from specialist robot company Boston Dynamics and was intended mainly for use in barricade and hostage situations, and as part of the Technical Assistance Response Unit, which is used for land-based (remote) surveillance. It has been reported that although 500 Boston Dynamics robot dogs have been deployed worldwide, the NYPD ‘dog’/robot is one of only four used by police departments. The others are used (e.g. by utility companies) on construction sites or in other (potentially dangerous) commercial settings. The four-legged, metal robot dogs can run, jump, climb stairs, balance, and are difficult to push over. They can also carry cameras, lights, and transmitters, and therefore, can be used for mobile surveillance. The robot dogs are guided by AI.

Old-Style Police Robots

Robots being used by police in situations that are too dangerous for humans are not unusual. For example, since the 1970s the NYPD has used robots in hostage situations, for bomb disposal, and for other hazardous tasks and challenges. The Boston Dynamics robot, however, is more sophisticated, capable, and dextrous than those early robots.

What Went Wrong With ‘Digidog’?

Digidog’s deployment to an incident in the Bronx, the footage of which was published online in February, appears to have caused alarm and criticism among members of the public. This alarm has been heightened by the recent high-profile incidents of police killings of black citizens, and the resulting protests. The footage of the robot following officers back, after the incident, has led to comparisons with fictional characters like the Terminator and Robocop, and has led to comments that the robot was ‘creepy’ and like something from a Dystopian future. Other criticisms have focused on worries that the deployment of such technology is too far ahead of regulation, whether it was wise or right to spend the money on a robot when the pandemic had squeezed finances. Some have also asked questions about whether spending on a robot should have been prioritised over the need for investment in the area of the city where it was filmed. A (Fox) news report of the Digidog deployment in the Bronx, which also highlights its potential benefits, can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24jufNhuUSI.

2016 in Dallas

The last time there was a serious outcry over a crime-fighting robot was back in 2016 when a gunman suspected of murdering five police officers was blown-up using a robot.

Cancelled

The public concern over Digidog is now reported to have led to NYPD cancelling its ($94,000) contract with Boston Dynamics which was not due to expire until August 2021.

‘Spot’ in Singapore

Boston Dynamics made the news back in May 2020 when a similar robot, dubbed ‘Spot’, was given a trial in Singapore’s Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park warning visitors to observe safe social distancing measures. Spot was allowed to roam the park, using its AI guidance system to avoid bumping into people and objects, and broadcasted a pre-recorded message about social distancing. A video of ‘Spot’ in action can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz7A8Umw5zY .

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Robots are nothing new in business (e.g. the car industry, warehouses, and factories, even parcel delivery) and some robots even made the news for been used as mobile food distribution services on U.S. university campuses for students isolating during the first lockdown. Robots have also proven extremely useful in law enforcement and situations where the risk to humans is too great, e.g. bomb disposal, hostage incidents and more. This ‘Digidog’ robot, however, proved to be an example of deploying the wrong piece of machinery at the wrong time in the wrong place. The combination of a general deterioration in trust of the police (due to high profile killings of black citizens), deploying the ‘dog’ in a city area such as the Bronx, and the potentially threatening/creepy appearance of a four-legged metal (surveillance) robot proved to be too much. This, in turn, prompted uncomfortable questions and raised tensions to the point where the damage exceeded the benefits of the deployment of the robot. Public surveillance is a contentious issue on its own, and overt law enforcement tools and methods are also a matter of public interest, and the deployment of this robot brought the two together with the added fear of dystopian imagery. It begs the question of whether, if the robot has a ‘friendlier’ looking form (and didn’t walk on legs) it would have created so much interest and tension?

It is likely that more robots and drones will become commonplace and will fulfil productive, resource-saving, and day-to-day roles in ways that meet with public approval, but the sight of four-legged police robots, like a feared character from a sci-fi film, is something that the public may not yet be ready for and will not quietly accept. It is back to the drawing board for both the design of such robots and for those involved in ensuring that regulation, particularly of the use of AI (as is happening at the EC at the moment) keeps pace with its deployment.

ISDN To Be Switched Off

With BT Openreach officially setting the timeframe for switching off PSTN/ISDN, we look at what this means for businesses.

ISDN an PSTN

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), which really came into being in the 1990s, is a set of communication standards that are used for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitised circuits of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The PSTN is a broad term for the world’s collection of interconnected, circuit-switched, voice-oriented, public telephone networks that (whether operated by national, regional, or local telephony operators) make up the infrastructure and services for public telecommunication.

Originally, ISDN offered the chance for digital services to operate through the same copper wire as the normal telephone system. It became popular with businesses because it offered a faster Internet connection than dial-up. Fast-forwarding through different attempts to upgrade includes B-ISDN, transmitting data over fibre optic cable, and ISDN BRI (improving voice services), and the building of modern internet protocol (IP) based networks which can support both broadband and landline telephone services, and ISDN now seems to be only of real use for internet access in areas which haven’t yet been reached by broadband.

Also, as noted by Ofcom, the old PSTN is reaching the end of its life and is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain, which is another reason why a switch-over to a better alternative is necessary.

What’s Happening With the Switch-Off?

BT Openreach have announced that starting from the end of this year and finishing in 2025, it will be “switching off the UK telephone network as we know it” by moving 15 million lines to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based replacement telephone service. In essence, this means that the Internet (broadband) will be used to carry telephone calls rather than traditional copper wires. Since ISDN used the copper wire phone network, this change marks the ISDN switch-off.

The Alternatives

With the now inevitable switch-off of ISDN, the main alternatives for businesses are:

– SIP, which uses virtual, cloud-based phone lines rather than physical lines. This may be more suitable for businesses with an on-premise phone system. Many existing phone systems are already compatible with SIP.

– Hosted VoIP/ a Hosted IP phone system may suit businesses that don’t want to commit or retain an on-premise phone system. As this option uses the business’s internet lines, it essentially means that the business rents a phone system.

What Are The Advantages?

Broadly speaking, the switch to VoIP should bring many advantages, such as:

– A greater breadth of capabilities.

– Cost savings and fewer system failures and outages.

– Scalability and portability (VoIP phone systems can go wherever the company goes).

– Greater communications mobility, flexibility, and increased productivity and collaboration. The importance of this has been particularly well-illustrated with the need to use remote, cloud-based communications and collaborative working platforms during the pandemic.

– Better security that’s continuously updated.

– Greater reliability.

– Improved customer experiences.

– Clearer calls, making it easier to keep existing numbers, and the choice to have broadband provided separately from the telephone service.

– Better identification and prevention of nuisance calls, thereby saving businesses time and money and potentially protecting against scammers.

What Are The Disadvantages?

Some disadvantages of switching to VoIP could be:

– Potential problems with latency.

– Vulnerability to phone systems going down if there’s a broadband outage or if the electricity supply is interrupted.

Possible Impact Downstream

Both Ofcom and Openreach have acknowledged that the area of concern, if preparations are not made sufficiently in advance of the switch-over, is downstream services such as security and fire alarms, telecare devices, retail payment terminals, and equipment for monitoring and controlling networks. These rely on some attributes of the PSTN that may not be fully replicated in VoIP-based platforms, hence the importance of adequate preparation. This will require service providers to test their equipment to see if it will continue to function over IP and then replace, upgrade, or reconfigure it as appropriate. These service provider businesses will also need to ensure that customers (from residential users to large commercial and public sector entities) are made aware of the issue well in advance so that necessary steps can be taken to maintain service(s).

Ofcom has stated that the government will work with the sectors that use these downstream services (e.g. health, energy, transport, and business) so that they are aware of the change and can prepare in time.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Although the move is industry-led, there is little doubt that analogue and old, expensive to maintain copper wire phone systems will not be able to provide the scope, flexibility, speed, capacity, and economies of the digital alternative as businesses now rely heavily on the Internet. The switch-over will be spread over four years. Provided that there is adequate information and support given by the regulator and BT Openreach, and coordination among communications service providers (CSPs), and adequate advice and help for downstream providers, then change should be manageable, and disruption should be minimised.

Particular attention clearly needs to be paid to those sectors and organisations (many of which are vital to UK business and infrastructure) that still rely on some attributes of the PSTN that may not yet look as though they can be fully replicated in VoIP-based platforms. With this already being acknowledged and working groups already planned to tackle the issue, a smooth transition looks more likely.

The pandemic has increased the digital transformation of many businesses and the advantages of the switch to VoIP and digital appear to be in-keeping with this, and look likely to benefit businesses going forward.

More information about the switch and what to do about the migration can be found here: https://www.bttcomms.com/phasing-out-and-switch-off-of-isdn/.

Also, Ofcom provides some useful information about its plans for the switch-over here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0032/137966/future-fixed-telephone-services.pdf.