Ollie Holman created kits that mimicked charity and bank webpages so criminals could harvest victims’ personal details
A 21-year-old student who designed and distributed online kits linked to £100m worth of fraud has been jailed for seven years.
Ollie Holman created phishing kits that mimicked government, bank and charity websites so that criminals could harvest victims’ personal information to defraud them.
Continue reading...Beeban Kidron says it is not ‘nanny state’ to prevent firms investing billions on making platforms addictive from targeting under-18s
A leading online safety campaigner has urged the UK government to “detoxify the dopamine loops” of addictive social media platforms as tech companies prepare to implement significant child protection measures.
Beeban Kidron, a crossbench peer, asked the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, to use the Online Safety Act to bring forward new codes of conduct on disinformation and on tech features that can lead to children becoming addicted to online content.
Continue reading...Spate of incidents in Baltic Sea and around Taiwan are harbinger for further disruptive activity, cybersecurity firm says
The risk of Russia- and China-backed attacks on undersea cables carrying international internet traffic is likely to rise amid a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, according to a report.
Submarine cables account for 99% of the world’s intercontinental data traffic and have been affected by incidents with suspected state support over the past 18 months.
Continue reading...Traders affiliated to Iran-backed rebel group found to have been running weapon stores on social media for years
Arms dealers affiliated with Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and Meta platforms to traffic weapons – some US-made – in apparent violation of the social media firms’ policies, a report has revealed.
The Houthis, an Iran-backed group of rebels who have controlled swathes of Yemen since 2014, are designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, Canada and other countries.
Continue reading...Hacked airline says Australian federal police have been engaged but it ‘won’t be commenting any further on the detail of the contact’
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A potential cyber criminal has made contact with Qantas, the airline has confirmed, after a major attack on its network exposed the personal records of up to 6 million customers.
In a statement on Monday evening, a spokesperson for Qantas said the Australian federal police (AFP) had been engaged but the airline would not confirm if a ransom was being sought for the compromised personal data.
Continue reading...Ofcom says research shows need for stricter age checks being introduced in July, which most major sites have signed up to
Nearly one in 10 children aged eight to 14 have watched online pornography, according to the UK’s communications watchdog, as most adult content providers gear up to adopt stronger age checks ahead of a 25 July deadline.
Ofcom published research showing that 8% of children aged eight to 14 in the UK had visited an online pornography site or app over a month-long period. Boys aged 13 to 14 were the most likely viewers, with two out of 10 visiting adult sites.
Continue reading...CMA proposes tightening regulation, which could lead to site giving users option to choose alternative services
Google could be forced to make a series of changes to its search business, including giving internet users an option to choose an alternative service, after the UK competition watchdog proposed tightening regulation of the company.
The Competition and Market Authority is preparing to give the world’s largest search engine the designation “strategic market status”, a term for tech companies deemed to have considerable market heft that enables the watchdog to use extra powers to regulate them.
Continue reading...CSRI finds China and Russia may be coordinating ‘grey zone’ tactics against vulnerable western infrastructure
China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis.
A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents in which national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership.
Continue reading...Parent company Aylo criticizes requirement that adult website visitors must confirm age with credit card or ID document
French visitors to the adult sites Pornhub, Youporn and RedTube will on Wednesday be greeted with a message denouncing the country’s age verification requirements, the company said on Tuesday.
Parent company Aylo, in reaction to a French law requiring adult sites to take extra steps to verify that their users are 18 or older, will stop operating in France, a spokesperson said.
Continue reading...European Commission alleges age verification systems are ineffective in preventing under-18s from watching
The EU executive has launched an investigation into four pornographic websites over alleged failure to prevent children from seeing adult content.
After analysis of company policies, the European Commission accused Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos of failing to have effective age verification measures to stop minors accessing their content.
Continue reading...Tens of millions of internet users in China’s Henan denied access to five times more websites than usual
China’s authorities appear to have implemented an enhanced version of the country’s internet censorship regime in the central province of Henan, subjecting tens of millions of residents to even stricter controls on access to information than people in the rest of the country.
A research paper published this month by Great Firewall Report, an internet censorship monitoring platform, found that internet users in Henan, one of China’s most populous provinces, were, on average, denied access to five times more websites than a typical Chinese internet user between November 2023 and March 2025.
Continue reading...Defamation suit claims Marubo people were depicted as tech-addled and porn-obsessed after introduction of internet
An Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued the New York Times, saying the newspaper’s reporting on the tribe’s first exposure to the internet led to its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography.
The Marubo tribe of the remote Javari valley, a community of about 2,000 people, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles.
Continue reading...Wikimedia Foundation seeks judicial review of some requirements of Online Safety Act it claims may endanger safety of volunteer editors
The charity that hosts Wikipedia is challenging the UK’s online safety legislation in the high court, warning some of its regulations would expose the site to “manipulation and vandalism”.
In what could be the first judicial review related to the Online Safety Act, Wikimedia Foundation claims it is at risk of being subjected to the act’s toughest category 1 duties, which impose additional requirements on the biggest sites and apps.
Continue reading...Alda Curtis, who earned US$1 for the t-shirt she sold on RedBubble, had US$600 removed from her PayPal account without explanation
Alda Curtis, a 63-year-old counselling student from Sydney, set up a Redbubble store as a hobby, including selling a T-shirt featuring an unhappy cat cartoon.
After years of running the store, a single sale of that T-shirt resulted in a US$100,000 default judgment against her for infringing on the trademark of Grumpy Cat late last year. Then Curtis noticed nearly US$600 had been taken from her PayPal account.
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Continue reading...Communications regulator has brought in more than 40 new rules for tech firms designed to keep under-18s safe
Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe online
The UK communications watchdog has set out more than 40 measures to keep children safe online under a landmark piece of legislation.
The Online Safety Act has a strong focus on protecting under-18s from harmful content and the codes of practice published by Ofcom on Thursday are a significant moment for regulation of the internet.
Continue reading...Internet Watch Foundation report shows 380% increase in illegal AI-generated imagery in 2024, most of it ‘category A’
Images of child sexual abuse created by artificial intelligence are becoming “significantly more realistic”, according to an online safety watchdog.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said advances in AI are being reflected in illegal content created and consumed by paedophiles, saying: “In 2024, the quality of AI-generated videos improved exponentially, and all types of AI imagery assessed appeared significantly more realistic as the technology developed.”
Continue reading...E-tailers also hiking prices after Donald Trump ends ‘de minimis’ exemption for cheap shipments from China and Hong Kong
Temu and Shein are cutting back their spending on US social media advertising as they lose an exemption on tariffs for many of their shipments from China and Hong Kong.
The online e-tailers, both of which ship low-priced China-made goods direct to US shoppers, had been on an ad spree until recently. But under an executive order from Donald Trump, as of 2 May their sales valued at under $800 will no longer be exempt from US tariffs.
Continue reading...Meera Syal also to star in London production reflecting producer’s experience of censorship in Georgia
Hidden from view inside a south London warehouse, a new underground movement will be fighting the international blight of misinformation this summer.
The huge immersive event – half theatrical show, half social campaign – is to involve some of Britain’s leading acting talent, including Toby Jones and Meera Syal, and has been put together by a theatre company led by a woman who learned about misinformation the hard way, at the Georgian television station Imedi.
Continue reading...Teachers will be banned from setting homework involving screens in effort to tackle ‘risks’ of intensive use of IT at young age
The regional government of Madrid has unveiled plans to limit the use of computers and tablets in primary schools to a maximum of two hours a week in an effort to tackle “the risks associated with the early, intensive and inappropriate use of information technology”.
Under the proposals, to be enacted in September, teachers will also be banned from setting homework involving screen use.
Continue reading...Nearly half of female entrepreneurs surveyed by Cherie Blair Foundation for Women do not have regular internet access
The cost of a mobile data package is all that is holding back many female entrepreneurs in developing countries, according to recent research.
While social media marketing is reported to be crucial by female business owners who have access to it, 45% of women in business in low- and middle-income countries said they did not have regular internet access because of the expense and connection issues.
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