Russia 'could cut UK's undersea internet cables', warns defence chief

The head of Britain's military says Russia could try to sever undersea communications cables, and protecting them is a defense priority for NATO.

Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach says cutting or disrupting the cables could have a "potentially catastrophic" economic effect.

Peach told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute that "along with our Atlantic allies, we have prioritised missions and tasks to protect the sea lines of communication."

In yesterday's speech, Peach said that Russia "in addition to new ships and submarines continues to perfect both unconventional capabilities and information warfare." He said NATO is working "to match and understand Russian fleet modernization."

Earlier this month the Policy Exchange think-tank highlighted how Russia had "easily" severed all digital communications to Crimea during its 2014 invasion of the Black Sea peninsula.
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Trump overtakes Pope to become Twitter's most followed world leader

President Donald Trump has passed Pope Francis to become the most-followed world leader on Twitter, a social media tracker says.

Twitplomacy says Trump, with about 40 million followers, over the weekend took the top spot on its tracked list of about 890 accounts of leaders like heads of state and government. The pope's followers in all languages are slightly fewer.

Twitplomacy founder Matthias Luefkens, head of digital with Burson Marsteller EMEA, acknowledged that many followers could be dormant accounts or "bots." The list also doesn't count ex-leaders like Barack Obama, who has 95 million-plus followers.

Trump has frequently announced government policy or made controversial statements on Twitter.

Luefkens said today that Trump's tweets get many "interactions" and he expects the US leader might trumpet the achievement: "He does like his crowd size.
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Digital transformation should not degrade humanity: Satya Nadella

With organisations across the globe going through an unprecedented level of digital transformation to enhance productivity, Microsoft's India-born chief Satya Nadella today cautioned that new technologies should not "degrade" humanity but provide new levels of inclusiveness.

In his keynote address at Microsoft's Ignite conference in Orlando, Florida Nadella spoke about the upcoming quantum computing era and gave examples of how it could help solve some of the planets biggest challenges.

"We want more productivity and efficiency but we do not want to degrade humanity," Nadella said at the conference being attended by some 25,000 technology experts and analysts.

"We want technology to provide new levels of inclusiveness," Nadella said, as his Ignite keynote was being translated for the first time in 12 languages with the use of artificial intelligence.

"As we talk about technology, one of the things we need as technologists and decision makers is keeping in mind the timeless values that drive what we do," he said, adding that the most critical thing "for us is to bring all of us, across our functional roles, across all our expertise and skills," to support this process of continuous change and renewal.

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Saudi Arabia to lift ban on WhatsApp, Skype, other internet calling apps

Saudi Arabia will lift its ban on internet calling applications today, authorities said, easing restrictions online as the conservative kingdom faces new criticism over censorship.

Voice and video calling apps such as WhatsApp and Skype will be "widely available to users", a government statement said yesterday, in a move aimed at improving business confidence as the kingdom transitions into a post-oil era.

"Access to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) will reduce operational costs and spur digital entrepreneurship," the statement said, citing a directive from the communications and technology ministry.

"Digital transformation is one of the key kick-starters for the Saudi economy, as it will incentivise the growth of internet-based businesses, especially in the media and entertainment industries."

The announcement comes a day after Al Jazeera lashed out at Snapchat for blocking the Qatari broadcaster from its app in Saudi Arabia at the request of Saudi authorities.
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Cryptocurrency chaos as China cracks down on initial coin offerings

China's move last week to ban initial coin offerings (ICO) has caused chaos among start-ups looking to raise money through the novel fund-raising scheme, prompting halts, about-turns and re-thinks.

China is cracking down on fundraising through launches of token-based digital currencies, targeting ICOs in a market that has ballooned this year in what has been a bonanza for digital currency entrepreneurs.

The boom has fuelled a jump in the value of cryptocurrencies, but raised fears of a potential bubble.

"This is not unlike the dotcom bubble of 2000," said a partner at a venture capital fund in Shanghai, who didn't want to be named because of the issue's sensitivity. "There are a lot of companies raising a lot of money for not very good ideas, and these will eventually be weeded out. But even from the big dotcom bust, you still have gems."

"One of the reasons regulators stepped in was that the ICO fever extended beyond the traditional crypto community. The timing was an attempt to pre-empt this before it goes into a much broader mass market in China," the partner said.

Investors in China contributed up to 2.6 billion yuan ($394 million) worth of cryptocurrencies through ICOs in January-June, according to a state-run media report citing National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security Technology data.

Pre-ICO roadshows featuring elaborate standing room-only presentations at 5-star hotels drew a diverse crowd, including grandmothers - a likely tipping point for regulators.

The hype and subsequent crackdown came as China focuses on economic and social stability ahead of next month's congress of the Communist Party, a once-in-five-years event.
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Cambridge University may scrap handwritten exams over bad handwriting

The UK's prestigious Cambridge University is mulling scrapping an over 800-year-old practice of handwritten exams in favour of using laptops or iPads due to the deterioration in students' handwriting.

A growing reliance on laptops has led to students' writing becoming increasingly illegible, academics said.

The move would see an end to more than 800 years of tradition after students increasingly chose to use laptops to take down lecture notes.

Cambridge University has now launched a consultation on the topic as part of its "digital education strategy", having already piloted an exam typing scheme in the History and Classics faculties earlier this year, The Telegraph reported.

Dr Sarah Pearsall, a senior lecturer at Cambridge's History Faculty who was involved with the pilot earlier this year, said that handwriting is becoming a "lost art" among the current generation of students.

"Fifteen or twenty years ago students routinely have written by hand several hours a day -- but now they write virtually nothing by hand except exams," she told the daily.
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Tech Mahindra claims it has entered league of top 20 global services brands

IT firm Tech Mahindra on Sunday said it has entered into the Top-20 global tech services brands list (by brand value) in 2017,as per an independent assessment by a valuation and strategy consultancy, Brand Finance.

It also said the company has potential to be in the top-5 technology services brands by 2020.

Tech Mahindra has been ranked at No 14, with an impressive growth of 21 per cent over the previous fiscal, a joint release by Tech Mahindra and Brand Finance said.

"Tech Mahindra has delivered excellent brand value growth of 21 per cent. Its brand transformation journey from being an Information Technology player to a Digital Transformation partner has shown great progress," Brand Finance Founder and CEO David Haigh said.

"With its new brand promise of 'Connected World,Connected Experiences and the right brand investments, Tech Mahindra has all the potential to be in the top 5 by 2020," he added.

Tech Mahindra said it has recently embarked on a massive brand building campaign globally forging strategic partnerships with several Global Media Groups, local Governments and Trade Councils, to bring alive its 'Connected World, Connected Experiences' promise.

The company aspires to consolidate and improve its position through significant brand investments aligned to its core strategy in delivering tangible 'experience' outcomes to its 900+ customers worldwide, it said.

"We have embraced Digital Transformation as the bedrock of our brand journey, at a time when connectedness and experiences are the fundamentals for any business and consumer across all aspects of daily living," Tech Mahindra Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Jagdish Mitra said.
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Budget 2017: IT, telecom players expect more for cyber security, broadband

Latest News - With the government's push for digitisation across the board, the information & technology and telecom players are expecting a Union Budget that will try to strengthen cyber security and make broadband available to all that will in turn catalyse digital payments.

"As India digitalises rapidly, holistic approach to cyber security is a pre-requisite to foster and sustain trust of all the stakeholders -- consumers, businesses as well as government," said Sanjay Rohatgi, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Symantec.

"The government should consider setting aside at least eight per cent of its overall IT budget specifically for cyber security starting with the upcoming budget," Rohatgi said.

After the demonetisation in November 2016, the Indian government is trying hard to (Read More)