New research by British Gas (Centrica) has revealed that UK households could save an average of £147 per year on their electricity bills by switching off their ‘vampire electronics’.

What Are Vampire Devices? 

So-called ‘vampire devices’ are those household electronic devices, plugged into the mains, that continue to drain power when left on standby. These include remote-ready devices with an obvious standby-mode (indicated by a light) such as TVs, PC monitors, and games consoles. Other less obvious, non-remote vampire devices include smart speakers, alarm clocks, microwaves, digital radios, charging laptops and mobiles, white goods, and kitchen appliances and gadgets, such as coffee machines.

The biggest energy-draining vampire devices identified in the British Gas (Centrica) research in terms of cost and hours left on standby are TVs, Set top box/ satellite boxes, and modems/ internet routers.

Unaware 

The British Gas research showed that almost most one in five (16 per cent) of UK householders were unaware that many household appliances use up electricity whilst not in use, and over one in three (35 per cent) said they wish they’d known devices were costing them money whilst on standby.

Effort 

It is not surprising that, given the well-publicised hike in energy prices, almost two thirds of those in the British Gas research (63 per cent) said they would make more effort to switch their appliances off now they know they could save money. However, of the 21 per cent who said they will continue to leave appliances on standby when inactive, 50 per cent said this was because the effort of switching them off isn’t worth the cost saving.

Older People More Likely To Switch-Off Devices 

The British Gas research also showed that while three quarters of those aged 55-64 said they would switch off appliances to save money on bills, just over one third (35 per cent) of 18-24-year-olds said they found the idea less appealing.

Tips 

Some tips for stopping energy being wasted and reducing energy bills by limiting the effects of vampire devices include:

– Swich off devices at the mains at night rather than leaving them on standby.

– Make it easier to switch off devices at night by adding several to one extension lead.

– Consider using smart plugs. These allow you to check everything is turned off from your phone.

– Turn off lights when you leave a room and use a smart thermostat to avoid heating unnecessarily.

– Only operate the washing machine and dishwasher when they are full and avoid putting too much water in the kettle if it’s just for one cup of tea.

– Avoid over-charging mobiles and laptops unnecessarily.

– Consider using a smart meter.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

As highlighted by the British Gas research, knowing what vampire devices are and changing habits to switch off at the mains at night can make an enormous difference to bills, and help reduce greenhouse gas production. With hybrid working, for example, adopting these energy conserving, bill-busting tips could help reduce the overall household bill and smaller business may find it easier to locate and switch-off power draining devices. Bigger companies and SMEs can combine good practice over limiting the effects of vampire devices with other measures such as energy audits, teaching staff how to save energy, switching tariffs, keeping equipment up to date (energy efficiency), using timers, thermostats, and smart meters, looking at lighting efficiency, and generating their own power e.g., solar panels.

WhatsApp is warning users that scammers are sending messages from fake WhatsApp Support accounts, some of which even have a profile photo containing a verified badge. WhatsApop says these scam contacts are asking for private information such as credit card details to avoid terminating a WhatsApp account and, in some cases, for the user’s 6-digit code to log into the WhatsApp account. If users receive any such messages, the advice is to block and report the contact within their chat info.

If you need a really fast and simple way to remove the background from any photo, you may wish to try using ‘removebg’. Here’s how it works:

– Go to www.remove.bg.

– Click on ‘Upload An Image’ to upload the photo from your device that you would like to remove the background from.

– The website tool automatically and instantly removes the background.

– Click on the ‘Download Image’ button to download a .png file of the photo with the background removed.

Please note, we have no affiliation to this app or website and are simply suggesting it as a fast problem-solver that we have noticed and tried. Other options and programs for removing photo backgrounds are, of course, available.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and particularly sustainability are now key to many business spending decisions. Here we look at some of the current key trends.

Ten Trends 

1. Putting sustainability at the heart of the business. This is now much more than just an attractive concept. The need to tackle global warming, meet net-zero targets, appeal to environmentally aware customers, and compete successfully means that sustainability is now a highly valued feature of products and services has made sustainability an important trend. Businesses and organisations that can be proactive and successfully manage sustainability transformation have a brighter future. As part of a company’s broader ESG efforts, measuring, assessing, and monitoring a company’s sustainability impacts can help it to pinpoint priority areas to change to improve sustainability.

2. Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) frameworks. These are the global standardised frameworks for measuring and managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from both private and public sector companies, organistions, operations and value chains. By understanding what Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions are, companies are finding that they are better able to make the realistic goals and targets required to address them. For example, Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions e.g., from the factory or vehicles, and Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere e.g., from HVAC systems. Scope 3 emissions make up the majority and include those generated from upstream sources (raw materials production) and downstream sources (distribution and recycling).

3. Extending product life cycles through the circular economy. In technology, for example, this could include the recycling of precious metals in phone handsets and other e-waste and increasing ‘fix your own device’ possibilities, information, and help.

4. Addressing climate adaptation as part of a risk mitigation strategy. Climate change adaption refers to making alterations that can accommodate the current and future effects of climate change, thereby attempting to avoid disruption to operations, supply chains, and customers.

5. Creating a more sustainable supply chain by making greater efforts to connect data gaps and help achieve sustainability goals across the whole supply chain.

6. Being more honest in disclosing carbon footprint information. For example, because of this need, some large banks are now exploring ways to move investment from more carbon-intensive industries to industries that are actively reducing emissions.

7. Creating ‘Green IT’ services and structures. Tech heavy industries are now looking at ways to reduce carbon emissions across their IT functions and supply chains. Also, big technology companies e.g., Microsoft and Google are currently working on minimising the carbon footprint of their data centres.

8. Impact sourcing. Many companies and organisations are trying to prioritise a focus on employing marginalised and disadvantaged populations, reducing workplace bias, and increasing diversity.

9. Turning to more responsible and transparent AI and using a more holistic approach to minimise the chance for algorithms (which are now widely used) to cause harm.

10. Improving ESG analytics and reporting to help stay ahead of developments and keep stakeholders informed.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

These trends indicate the value that is now placed upon sustainability and the investment and efforts that businesses and organisations are putting into the many strands needed to achieve goals and hit targets. Businesses and organisations are now not just focused on their own operations, but on the genuine sustainability credentials of all those along the supply chain and across their value chains.

The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has reported finding evidence that Pegasus spyware was being used to listen-in on UK government networks for 10 Downing Street and the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) in 2020 and 2021.

Pegasus 

Pegasus spyware is sold by Israeli-based NSO Group to governments to carry out surveillance by infecting phones with malicious surveillance software. Pegasus is essentially a complete surveillance toolkit that’s generally sold to nation states at prices that could be millions of US dollars. The software can extract the contents of a phone, give the operator access to any texts, photographs, the camera, and the microphone. This gives the Pegasus operator the ability to conduct real-time surveillance, e.g. of private meetings. Pegasus is used for several surveillance purposes, e.g. by law enforcement tracking criminals, or for authoritarians / governments listening-in on people of interest such as journalists and activists as a way of quashing dissent. For example, Spain has recently been reported as being implicated in the use of Pegasus (and Candiru) to spy on 65 individuals related to Catalonia’s government.

Who Was Listening? 

The Citizen Lab has reported that the suspected infections related to the FCO were associated with Pegasus operators linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Cyprus, and Jordan. Also, the suspected infection at the UK Prime Minister’s Office has been linked to the UAE.

How Did They Get Infected With Spyware? 

According to The Citizen Lab, it is because the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its successor office, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development office (FCDO), have personnel in many countries. The suspected FCO infections may, therefore, have related to FCO devices located abroad and using foreign SIM cards. This is a similar situation to the hacking of foreign phone numbers used by US State Department employees in Uganda in 2021. Citizen Lab has also concluded that Pegasus was used to infect a device connected to 10 Downing Street’s network and the office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on July 26 and 27, 2020. It was the servers to which the data was transmitted which led The Citizen Lab suspects to suspect that the UAE was most likely behind the hack.

In addition to the Downing Street infection, Citizen Lab reports that phones connected to the Foreign Office were hacked using Pegasus on at least five occasions, from July, 2020, through June, 2021.

NSO Says.. 

NSO Group, the makers of the surveillance software are reported to have said that the recent allegations about the use of its software are false and that organisations like The Citizens Lab are politically motivated, and their reports may be inaccurate.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Pegasus is known to be widely used by governments and agencies around the world and has legitimate uses e.g., tracking criminals. However, its ability to provide real-time surveillance and the difficulty in detecting it are likely reasons why it appears to have been used for many less savoury purposes and surveillance linked to repression. It is, of course, worrying that it could be so easy for (allegedly) other states to listen-in on Downing Street and the UK Prime Minister, the implications of which we don’t yet fully know.  Research fromfrom Amnesty International and Citizen Lab suggest that ways individuals can avoid infection by Pegasus includes rebooting the device daily (to clean it), disabling iMessage and Facetime (exploitation vectors), keeping the device up to date with the latest patches, and never clicking on unsolicited links in SMS or email messages.

In this tech insight, we look at what ‘toxic’ backlinks are, how to identify them, and how to remove them.

Backlinks

Backlinks (incoming links) are believed to be one of Google’s top three ranking factors. Trustworthy backlinks from websites with a high authority score are a factor which contribute to higher search engine rankings. However, some lower quality links, perhaps from suspect websites, referred to as unnatural links / spammy links / “toxic links” can have an opposite negative effect on search engine rankings.

What Makes A Link “Toxic”? 

According to Google’s guidelines, “Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behaviour that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.” For example, this could include buying or selling links that pass PageRank, excessive link exchanges, large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links and using automated programs or services to create links to a website. Also, Google identifies links that weren’t editorially placed or vouched for by the site’s owner on a page as being “unnatural links”. Examples are text advertisements, paid-for advertorials or native advertising that all pass PageRank (PageRank is a value of importance allocated to a page by Google’s algorithms).

In summary, a toxic link is a non-editorially placed link that comes from websites that have been set up for the purpose of linking out, and which aren’t topically relevant, and aren’t indexed by Google. Also, toxic links can be links:

– Forced in blog comments or on a private blog network (PBN).

– From ‘spun’ content. This involves writing one article, using software to spin it into many different variations, and posting it on different directories while including backlinks from the text.

– Hidden in footers.

In low-quality directories.

– Included on every page of a website

– Using exact match keywords or followed links marked as sponsored.

– From large reciprocal linking schemes (lacking relevance).

– From a widget or plugin (putting the link there as the developer).

– From scaled guest posting (platforms solely for exchanging guest posts).

Opposite of Toxic = Quality Links 

The kinds of links that are unlikely to be marked as toxic and really could deliver a boost to search engine rankings are what could be considered ‘quality’ links. These are essentially links that have been editorially placed as a result of someone finding the content on a valuable page and choosing to link to it. It also helps if that link comes from a trusted, relevant web page with a good PageRank that has the potential to send referral traffic, and uses a relevant keyword / key phrase in the anchor link.

How Toxic Links Are Discovered 

The main ways that toxic links from web pages to websites are discovered include being identified by search engine algorithms, a competitor submitting a spam report to the search engine, or simply being in a niche that’s known for spam. Competitors may also discover a website’s toxic links by using specialist SEO software, e.g. SEMRush.

Consequences Of Having / Building Toxic Links

If a website has unnatural / spammy / toxic backlinks, the consequences could be:

– A drop in search engine rankings.

– A manual action by the search engines being triggered, e.g. a review. This could mean a ranking penalty being applied to certain pages (or site-wide) until the toxic links are removed from the pages they came from.

– The links being ignored by the search engines, bringing no benefit to the website.

How To Discover Whether Your Website Has Toxic Links 

In order to discover what backlinks you have (and which may be toxic), conduct a website (root domain) link audit of the website. This can be carried out manually, or using specialist SEO audit programs, e.g. SemRush, Majestic, SpyFu, Screaming Frog, and many more. Link audits can also be paid-for and outsourced to digital marketing companies or agencies. Also, Google’s Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) can be used.

Once the toxic links have been identified:

– Build a remove list (and a whitelist).

– Contact the site owners for your ‘remove list’ and manually ask them to remove links to your site, keeping a record of which ones and what the response was. Software tools include templates for removal requests.

– For all those that don’t reply, create a ‘disavow list’ (text) for the links that need to be removed. Login to Google Search Console, submit the file via Google’s link disavow tool, and wait.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The quality of a website’s backlinks has been for many years, and still is an important factor for helping to decide both PageRank and search engine rankings. Google for example, has clear guidelines about what makes a quality link, and what will be regarded as an unnatural (toxic) link. There are now many ways e.g., using specialist SEO software to discover which links could be holding a website back from achieving the kind of better rankings which could translate into more sales and enquiries. Also, insights into backlinks to competitor websites can help to deliver competitive advantage. This is why many companies and organisations now regularly monitor their toxic backlinks either in-house or outsourced to a third-party as well as trying to keep expanding their quality backlinks.

In this article, we look at the possible causes of the recent large losses of Netflix subscribers, and what’s next for the global streaming giant.

200,000 Subscribers Lost 

In its Q1 results, the world’s biggest global streaming service, Netflix, revealed that it had lost a massive 200,000 subscribers in the first 3 months of the year. It’s a far cry from the early days of lockdown when families who had to stay at home signed up to Netflix and the company reported a massive gain of 8.5 million new users in the fourth quarter of 2020 (36 million subscribers in total in 2020). By April 2021, however, Netflix was blaming a big slowdown (2 million less subscribers than forecast) on the slowdown in production of new content during the pandemic. However, with new subscriber numbers going from bad to worse, share prices falling by 35 per cent, competitors like HBO and HBO Max picking up the lost subscribers, and Netflix cancelling many new shows and movies to mitigate the losses, what’s been going wrong and why, and what could be next for Netflix?

Challenges 

Some of the main difficulties that have led to the huge loss of subscribers from Netflix include:

– Like many other companies, pulling out of Russia due to their waging war against Ukraine. This has reportedly lost Netflix 700,000 viewers. However, Netflix is reported to have gained 500,000 new subscribers since the start of 2022 which offsets the loss to an extent.

– A large number of Netflix viewers are not necessarily paying subscribers. This is because accounts (i.e. account passwords) are often shared between family members – an estimated 100 million households watch the service for free using shared passwords. This has led to Netflix testing (in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru) monthly payment plans to add user profiles for people outside their household. If successful, this could be rolled out to other countries, but some commentators believe this could cause another drop-off in subscribers and make it difficult to attract new ones.

– The cost of living crisis (food, fuel, and energy) is forcing people to cut back on subscriptions and what some may see as non-essential products and services, such as streaming service subscriptions.

– A price increase in the US in January, a price increase for UK Standard and Premium subscriptions in January, and another price increase scheduled for May have caused some customers to cancel and / or switch to another service.

– A slowing rollout of broadband and now the threat of plans that would allow broadband giants to charge tech companies for access to their networks.

– A lack of new programs and films being made during the pandemic affecting the content that Netflix (and other services) could offer.

– Increased competition, e.g. from Disney Plus, Prime Video, HBO and HBO Max, and Apple TV.

– The effects of the widescale news coverage that Netflix is losing subscribers and of Netflix’s warning to shareholders that another 2 million subscribers look likely to leave in the 3 months to July.

What Now? 

In response to the subscriber drop-off crisis, in addition to planning to possibly introduce extra payment plans to get revenue from family and friends sharing passwords, other measures Netflix is taking include:

– Cancelling the development of many new shows and movies, particularly in its animation department. This is despite Netflix also saying that it plans to improve the quality of its programming.

– Considering the introduction of a cheaper, ad-supported subscription for consumers.

– The price increase next month.

– The possible introduction of a free games service for subscribers.

Five Forces Help To Reveal The Dilemma 

Looking at Netflix’s challenges quickly and briefly through Harvard Business School’s famous business strategist Michael E Porter’s ‘Five Forces’ model helps to highlight the position of Netflix:

Threat of New Entrants:

Netflix is now facing some serious competition, although as the leading platform, Netflix is in a good position to negotiate with content creators in a way that new entrants can’t.

Threat of Substitutes:

With the world now mostly opened-up from the pandemic and the increasing penetration of technology into everything, the threat of substitutes is significant, e.g. gaming, Spotify, AR and VR, and more.

Bargaining Power of Customers:

With a subscription model, a price sensitive (cost of living squeeze) customer base, and plenty of competition, plus the ease of switching, customers (as subscription drop-offs have shown) currently have considerable bargaining power.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers:

Although Netflix is still highly dependent on licensed content, as the biggest service with multiple agreements in place for how its service is delivered and its power overs content creators, supplier power is not generally a huge threat to Netflix.

Competitive Rivalry:

Clearly, with many other alternative services now in what is still a booming market (Disney Plus, Prime Video, HBO and HBO Max, and Apple TV), levels of competitive rivalry are now a serious threat to Netflix.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Although the news for the last quarter was bad, and more subscriber loss is predicted, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Netflix is still a global leader in its market with 222 million subscribers and with a good portion of households as subscribers in its main markets, the US and Canada (75 million out of a total 142 million). Netflix may find it difficult to suddenly start charging for all users when it has essentially allowed password sharing for so long; this and the content are likely to have been motivators to choose and continue with Netflix. Price increases to cash-strapped pandemic restriction-free customers may also be high risk, as may cancelling new content (Netflix believes that customers value its content quality). The losses of Netflix, however, are now the gains of the increasingly strong competition (HBO picking up 3 million subscribers), and a changed post-pandemic environment where there are now many different tech entertainment alternatives makes for a challenging environment going forward. Things look, as forecast, like getting a bit worse for Netflix before they get better.

The UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that following changes to The Highway Code, users of automated vehicles will be allowed to watch TV on built-in screens.

Viewing Content On Built-In Screens 

Following a public consultation launched a year ago on how self-driving vehicles can be used safely on UK roads, the DfT has announced changes to The Highway Code. One change to the current regulation will be to allow drivers of automated vehicles to “view content that is not related to driving on built-in display screens”, while the self-driving vehicle is in control. Even though watching TV will be allowed, it will still be illegal to use mobile phones in self-driving mode. This is because research has shown that this can pose a greater risk in distracting drivers.

Must Still Be Ready To Resume Control When Needed 

Even though motorists may be allowed to watch TV while in self-driving mode, the DfT says that the current technology is ‘assistive’ rather than completely autonomous and, as such, drivers must always retain control and be ready to act in a timely way if they are prompted to – such as when they approach motorway exits.

Not Allowed Yet 

Self-driving cars are not currently allowed on UK roads and the changes to The Highway Code are intended to help ensure the first wave of technology will be used safely. The DfT has said that the first vehicles capable of driving themselves could be ready for use later this year. The first wave of hands-free vehicles to be legally allowed (and legally defined as “self-driving”) will be vehicles with automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS). This technology controls the position and speed of a car in a single lane, and it will be limited to 37mph (60km/h). Tesla cars, for example, already have a mode called “Autopilot” which uses lane technology similar to ALKS and is “level two” on the five defined levels of self-driving cars (level three would not need the driver’s attention at all times).

Benefits 

The benefits of having self- driving vehicles on UK roads could include:

– Improved road safety. Self-driving vehicles can regulate and eliminate common human errors, i.e. being able to stop in time if there’s an obstruction ahead. This could reduce the human error which is a contributory factor in 88 per cent of all recorded road collisions.

– Environmental/green benefits and reduced fuel costs. Keeping a consistent distance could mean fewer traffic jams and less idling. The smooth driving autonomous vehicles could also mean lower fuel consumption thereby saving fuel and reducing greenhouse gases.

– Greater accessibility. Those who can’t currently drive or have physical challenges could use AVs, e.g the elderly and those with disabilities.

– The creation of more jobs and opportunities in the AV industry. The DfT estimates that the development of self-driving vehicles could create 38,000 new jobs and be worth £41.7 billion to the UK economy by 2035.

Concerns 

Some of the concerns about the recent announcement and changes to The Highway Code are that:

– Vehicles with ALKS technology are not truly automated but are simply assisted driving systems that rely on the driver to take back control. This could lead to drivers putting too much trust in the driving system which could result in accidents.

– The DfT’s recent changes to The Highway Code are fuelling unrealistic optimism about when fully autonomous vehicles will actually be safe enough to introduce to UK roads.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The consultation and the changes to The Highway Code may be intended to ensure the first wave of technology will be used safely, but that first wave may be some way off yet. Much more regulatory and technical progress needs to be made before fully self-driving / autonomous vehicles make it onto UK roads. There are concerns too that ALKS technology as self-driving could cause confusion that could lead to accidents. Drivers need to be sure that they are responsible within vehicles containing ALKS technology and they need to be in full control. That said, a future with autonomous vehicles on the roads could bring jobs, opportunities and reduce costs and environmental impact (particularly if they were electric ones) while overcoming other difficulties for haulage and logistics companies. Additionally, they could provide safer, cheaper, and more accessible transport for all.

Researchers from Canadian cybersecurity company eSentire have reported that attackers are targeting corporate hiring managers with phishing emails containing the ‘more_eggs’ malware, using fake CVs as a decoy to launch the malware and sidestep detection. The more_eggs malware is a backdoor suite that can steal valuable information and move across the compromised network. Reported targets so far have been a US-based aerospace company, a UK-based accounting business, and a Canada-based law firm and a staffing agency.

Windows 11 ‘voice typing’ feature uses online speech recognition so that you can enter text on your PC simply by speaking. Here’s how to use it:

– Firstly, make sure you’re connected to the Internet, have a working microphone, and have your cursor in a text box.

– Press Windows logo key + H on a hardware keyboard.

– Press the microphone key next to the Spacebar on the touch keyboard.

– Voice typing will start listening automatically. Wait for the “Listening…” alert before you start speaking.

To stop voice typing:

– Say a voice typing command, e.g. “Stop listening”.

– Press the microphone button on the voice typing menu.