Hi-Tech Crime CRIM30375

#MeToo has arrived in India, and it's changing how technology is used to fight injustice Shutterstock. Ayona Datta , King's College London ; Nabeela Ahmed , King's College London , and Rakhi Tripathi , FORE School of Management Spin the globe to India and you’ll see it’s lit up like Diwali: the #MeToo movement is rising, and – like its US predecessor – is largely being played out on social media, with very real consequences for well-known public figures . The campaign is not confined to large cities; among the top areas searching the term are small towns across India. This moment has been a long time coming . The public accounts of violence shared by women using the #MeToo hashtag stretch back to memories of growing up, entering the workforce, walking on the streets, using public transport and other settings typically encountered throughout the course of life. Recently, the Indian state attempted to use smart technolog...

Poachers in Beckingham last night thought they could hide in their car in a wood! #24hr #thermal #police #drone deployed, finds them in minutes and guides in @LincsPoliceK999 4 in custody! #RuralCrime @CIPhilVickers @MarcJonesLincs @DCCCraigNaylor @lincspolice pic.twitter.com/FN77akjQEV — Lincs Police Drones (@lincsCOPter) October 20, 2018

We need a new human right – to protect our freedom to live without threat from the skies coolrockcom/flickr , CC BY-SA Nick Grief , University of Kent and Shona Illingworth , University of Kent In little more than 100 years, humans have radically transformed the sky: chemically, territorially and militarily. In this increasingly contested space, technological developments are accelerating the transformation. New forms of military and commercial exploitation are increasing the disparity of power between those who dominate airspace and outer space, and the billions of people on the ground affected by the impacts. People are increasingly vulnerable to being tracked, watched and targeted from above. The use of combat drones is escalating and new robotic assailants are being developed. Individuals are at growing risk of being tracked and targeted through data mining. For instance, geolocating via smartphones and mapping geotagged photograp...

China accused of mass cyber spying – but working out the truth is just the start of the problem Minuscule computer hardware could be spying on top tech firms. graphicINmotion/ shutterstock Robert Carolina , Royal Holloway Has China found a way to spy on computers used by the world’s top tech firms and perhaps even the US government by implanting them with tiny secret microchips? That’s what was alleged in a recent article from Bloomberg Businessweek, which claimed the US is investigating some form of spy microchip thought to have been inserted into Chinese-made circuit boards used by a company that produces video data servers. Its products have, according to Bloomberg, been purchased by Apple, Amazon and many other large firms, as well as the US departments of Defense and Homeland Security, Congress and NASA. If proved true, these allegations would have huge implications for all the parties involved, as well as global security, trade an...

Stay alive, and if something moves, shoot it: one year of phenomenal success for Fortnite Call that a weapon? Playing Fortnite, a web-based multiplayer survival game. Shutterstock/Lenscap Photography Steven Conway , Swinburne University of Technology The online videogame Fortnite Battle Royale was launched just a year ago in September 2017. Since then the game had amassed 125 million active players by June and made US$1.2 billion (A$1.6 billion) for the developer, Epic Games. It has also been linked to 200 divorces and a case of aggravated harassment where a 45-year-old man threatened to kill an 11-year-old boy after losing to him in the game. Read more: Could playing Fortnite lead to video game addiction? The World Health Organisation says yes, but others disagree Love it or hate it, the question begs: How has Epic Games created a game with such enormous social, economic and psychological impact...

Regulate social media? It's a bit more complicated than that M-SUR/Shutterstock Sara Solmone , University of East London Free speech is a key aspect of the internet, but it has become increasingly obvious that many online will push that freedom to extremes, leaving website comment sections, Twitter feeds and Facebook groups awash with racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise unpalatable opinions and vitriolic views, and obscene or shocking images or videos. The borderless nature of the internet, where a website may be hosted in one country, operated by staff in another, with comments left by readers in a third, poses a thorny problem for website operators and government agencies seeking to tackle the issue. In Britain, the telecommunications regulator Ofcom recently issued a report discussing the issues around online harm and potential ways forward. A UK government white paper on the subject is also expected this autumn, and heal...