Google has announced the introduction of a new recycling attribute (label) which, when added by merchants to their Business Profiles, will be shown in Search and Maps, informing customers if a business offers recycling services.

Why? 

Google says that “Recycling” has become one of the most popular Search topics. Also, supporting eco-conscious brands is top of mind for the 82 per cent of consumers who have deemed sustainability a top priority. However, until now, people looking to recycle locally have faced difficulties when identifying which businesses recycle what and where. Google says that the new recycling attribute, which takes the form of a blue recycling symbol with what can be recycled listed next to the symbol, will make it easier than ever for people to find nearby recycling points on Search and Maps.

How Does It Work? 

Businesses can edit their profile to include what they recycle, for example, plastic bottles, batteries, electronics, glass bottles, clothes and more. When a person searches (e.g. for ‘clothing recycling near me’), if this has been added to the Business Profile, it will be displayed in the results – the recycling symbol + ‘Recycling: Clothing.’

How To Edit Your Profile To Include The New Recycling Attribute 

Businesses with a Google Business Profile can add the new recycling attribute by following these steps:

1. Login to your Google Business Profile.
2. Select Edit profile > Business information.
3. Near the top, select the More tab.
4. Select the category you want to change.
5. Next to the attribute (the recycling one), select Yes or No.
6. When you’re finished updating your attributes, select Save.

Some Differences 

It should be noted, however, that some attributes are only available in certain countries or regions, or to certain business categories. Also, attribute names may change over time to match changing search language.

Different type of businesses may also have different attributes available to add to their Business Profile, e.g. acceptable payment types or LGBTQ+ friendly.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

With large numbers of consumers now interested in sustainability, supporting and favouring eco-friendly brands, especially with Google searches for local businesses offering recycling increasing, this new attribute has the potential to deliver more enquiries to those who add the attribute. Standing out in the search engine results and in Google maps for recycling searches could, therefore, translate into more business as well as contributing to sustainability and the circular economy. Considering how easy it is to add the attribute, businesses have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain from doing so.

In this insight, we look at the history of fears about a possible link between mobile phone usage and cancer, then we look at the latest studies, conclusions, and expert opinions.

History  

Claims that mobile phones could cause cancer (e.g. brain tumours) can be traced back to the 1990s when mobile phones were first used frequently. This led to research into whether radiation from mobile phone antennas or phone towers was affecting human health. This also led to the International EMF (Electric and Magnetic Fields) Project in 1996 which assessed the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz. The research and advice fuelled widespread fears and speculation about a link between mobile phone use and cancer. Brain cancer was a particular focus because hand-held phones are used close to the head and because ionizing radiation has been found to cause some brain cancers. However, as was established later, ionizing radiation is a higher energy form of radiation than that emitted by mobile phones.

Also, in 2011, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said that it was classifying electromagnetic fields from mobile phones and other sources as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” This resulted in the agency advising the public to adopt safety measures to reduce exposure, such as using of hands-free devices, or texting. This again added fuel to the idea that mobile phone use was dangerous.

Threats – Two Types  

The two main perceived threats to health possibly cause by mobile phone use are, therefore, the emission of possibly harmful radiation (radiofrequency radiation, or radio waves), and the widespread and frequent use of mobile phones by the public. For example, 90 per cent of people in the UK now own a mobile phone (Statista).

Claims  

Many of those who argue that mobile phones do cause tumour growth (also DNA damage and decreased fertility) cite peer-reviewed studies. They also claim that cancers take 20-30 years to develop and that mobile phone studies have only monitored periods of 10 years or less.

There have also been some successful lawsuits against mobile phone manufacturers. For example, two separate cases in Italy, in 2009 and 2017 resulted in pensions being awarded to plaintiffs who claimed that their benign brain tumours were caused by prolonged mobile phone use in professional tasks, for 5–6 hours a day.

New Study Says ‘No Link’  

A new study involving more than 770,000 women has concluded that mobile phone usage does not pose a tumour risk for the average user. The survey was conducted by scientists from the Oxford Population Health and International Agency for Research on Cancer used data from the ongoing research project ‘Million Women Study’ (recruiting one in four of all UK women born between 1935 and 1950).

The study looked at the risk of a variety of brain tumours including glioma (nervous system tumour), acoustic neuroma (tumour of the nerve connecting the brain and inner ear), meningioma (a tumour on the membrane surrounding the brain), and pituitary gland tumours.

14-Year Follow-Up Period  

After a 14-year follow-up period of the 3,000+ women who developed a brain tumour, the researchers were able to conclude that there was no significance difference in the risk of developing a brain tumour between those using a mobile phone or those not using one. Also, the researchers concluded that even for those who spoke for at least 20 minutes a week or had used a mobile phone for over 10 years, there was no increased risk of developing any type of tumour.

Radiation From Mobile Phones Is Not Harmful  

Mobile phones emit radiation in the radiofrequency region of the electromagnetic spectrum, but the ranges of the frequencies in mobile phones fall in the non-ionizing range of the spectrum, which is low frequency and low energy. This means that the energy is too low to damage DNA.

Cancer Research UK & National Cancer Institute (US)  

The charity Cancer Research UK states that: “Using mobile phones does not increase the risk of cancer. And there aren’t any good explanations for how mobile phones could cause cancer.”  

The National Cancer Institute in the US says: “The evidence to date suggests that cell phone use does not cause brain or other kinds of cancer in humans”. Also, on the subject of potentially damaging radiation from mobile phones, it says: “The human body does absorb energy from devices that emit radiofrequency radiation” causing heating to the area of the body where a cell phone is held (e.g. the ear and head). However, it also states: “that heating is not sufficient to measurably increase core body temperature. There are no other clearly established dangerous health effects on the human body from radiofrequency radiation.”  

What About 5G?  

There have been many fears about the possible cancer risks of 5G

Cancer Research UK is very clear about this subject, stating that: “4g and 5g mobile signals do not cause cancer” and that “5G networks use higher frequency waves than 4G or older mobile networks, but they still don’t have enough energy to damage DNA to cause cancer”. 

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

Many people in business now use their smartphone for multiple aspects of their business meaning that they are in close contact with their mobile phone for many hours per day, every day with everything from calls to texts, app use, online meetings, and collaborative working. Their use of their mobile phones may have even increased during and after the pandemic with remote working. It is, therefore, in everyone’s interest to know if mobile phone use causes cancer. Thankfully, as shown by this latest survey (although critics say it only involved women) and supported by other credible research and advice from respected cancer charities, there is no solid evidence to suggest that mobile phone use causes cancer. 5g has yet to be fully rolled out and more studies are likely to follow but the current consensus is that 5g will not pose any cancer risk.

A report by SEO software firm SEMrush has shown that so-called ‘Dumbphones’ are experiencing a revival, but why?

What Is A ‘Dumbphone’?  

Dumbphones are mobile handsets that lack the advanced functionality characteristics of a smartphone and typically have press-button based inputs, a small non-touch display, and can just make and receive calls and SMS text messages.

Google Searches – 89 Per Cent Jump Between 2018 and 2021  

A report by SEMrush has shown that Google searches for dumbphones, also known as ‘feature phones’, rose by 89 per cent between 2018 and 2021. This supports a previous report by Counterpoint in 2019 which predicted that more than one billion feature phones would be sold over the next three years.

Why So Popular, Again? 

There are several reasons why dumbphones/feature-phones (which are very much like many of the early handsets of the late 1990s in appearance and functionality) are experiencing a surge in popularity. These include:

– Fashion and nostalgia. For example, dumbphones appearing in TikTok videos, and Nokia’s relaunching of its popular 3310 handset in 2017.

– Not wanting to waste time that could be used for more productive activities, i.e. escaping from constantly liking, sharing, commenting etc on social media.

– Affordability. More than three billion people across the world live on an income of less than US $2.50 per day which makes new smartphones unaffordable. Also, where users need to upgrade to 4G but can’t afford a 4G smartphone, they need to be offered a 4G VoLTE feature phones on a more efficient 4G network.

– Longer battery life. For example, emerging markets such as India and Nigeria have the greatest number of people without access to electricity (using public charging points). This makes the longer battery life of feature phones more attractive.

– The strength and durability of feature phones. For example, in some industries (construction) and in hostile environments around the world, dumbphones can withstand more punishment than smartphones.

– Health benefits of using dumbphones compared to smartphones, such as better sleep and the health benefits of moving around and getting out more. Smartphone addiction has been linked to poor sleep. For example, research led by the Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London (2021) found that 39 per cent of young adults reported smartphone addiction. Also, smartphone addiction was found to be associated with poor sleep, independent of duration of usage. Also, research in China, led by the Department of Sports and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou (2020) found that problematic smartphone usage was positively correlated with sedentary behaviour (reclining, sitting, or lying down). Sedentary behaviour is known to negatively impact health independent of other factors including body weight, diet, and physical activity.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

Thinking globally, there are many practical reasons why dumbphones/feature phones are prevalent, not least their affordability, battery life, and their ability to withstand the challenges of hostile environments. This is why India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa are key markets and provide business opportunities for manufacturers selling feature phones. In the UK and US, however, their popularity may be more a case of fashion and nostalgia, which still means that there are opportunities for phone manufacturers to re-introduce their early models, thereby reviving rather than prolonging a product life cycle that appeared to have died. As users, we may find that there are many physical and mental health benefits from switching to a limited feature phone which could have a positive effect on our quality of life in the right circumstances. However, with apps now being used to access more services, the stress and problems caused by not being able to access those services and missing out on the convenience and control offered by smartphone apps could outweigh some of the benefits of owning only a dumbphone.

In this article, we look at what the digital switchover is, why it’s needed, what the challenges are, and why it’s now been paused.

The Switch To ‘Digital Voice’

Back in April 2021, BT Openreach announced that starting from the end of the year and finishing in 2025, it would be “switching off the UK telephone network as we know it” by moving 15 million lines (some figures say switching 29 million home landlines) to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based replacement telephone service. The big switchover to digital was branded ‘Digital Voice’.

In essence, this means that the Internet (broadband) will be used to digitally carry telephone calls rather than traditional copper wires, i.e. landline voice calls will be transmitted digitally.  In individual homes for example, this will mean that people will plug a new digital phone, powered by mains electricity, into their router rather than a socket in the wall.

End For ISDN Too 

Switching off the UK’s traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) will also mean the end for ISDN because it uses the copper wire phone network.  Also, BT Openreach will not be accepting new orders for PSTN, and ISDN2 and ISDN30 services after September 2023.

Why? 

As noted by Ofcom, the old PSTN is reaching the end of its life and is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain, and Openreach may be looking to ditch the legacy copper network completely, so it won’t have to pay to run two parallel networks. Also, there are now more up-to-date alternatives that are compatible with how we communicate today, i.e. mobile and Internet communications. Broadly speaking, some advantages for customers of the switch-over to VoIP could include:

– VoIP offers a greater breadth of capabilities.

– Cost savings and fewer system failures and outages and reduced complexity for providers.

– 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 Could Possibly Go Wrong? 

It was anticipated that there would be several possible challenges in pushing ahead with such a big change in a relatively short time frame. These included:

– Potential problems with latency.

– Vulnerability to phone systems going down and causing (costly) business disruption if there’s a broadband outage or if the electricity supply is interrupted.

– Older customers and/or customers in rural areas/areas poorly served by broadband may be at a disadvantage.

– A lack of awareness in the marketplace about the planned switch-over, and many small businesses in the UK are still using legacy lines.

-1.5 million homes don’t have access to the Internet (according to watchdog Ofcom). This could mean excluding them.

– Fears that millions more don’t have a mobile phone, or don’t know how to use one properly (a worry expressed by Charity Age UK).

Downstream Services An Area of Concern Too 

Ofcom and Openreach also acknowledged that a big area of concern, if preparations are not made sufficiently for the switch-over, are how downstream services may be affected. These include security and fire alarms, telecare devices and panic alarms, retail payment terminals/EPOS, and equipment for monitoring and controlling networks.  Specifically, these downstream services rely on some attributes of the old copper PSTN that may not be fully replicated in VoIP-based platforms, hence the importance of adequate preparation before the big switch-over in 2025.

Criticism From Pensioner Groups 

In November 2021, BT Openreach’ s Digital Voice switchover plans were criticised by pensioner groups. Jan Shortt, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention said that “If there is a power cut, this digital phone line will no longer work – and a potential lifeline for elderly people will be suddenly lost”. Also, Jan Shortt pointed out that “BT has no idea that many older people do not want a fancy smartphone or cannot afford one – and rely on their landline as a lifeline. It is wrong to discriminate against those – primarily the elderly – who are not wired up to the internet”. 

Challenges Highlighted By Storms 

The autumn storms of 2021 are reported to have left customers in rural Northumberland without phone capability for several days. This was because there were power cuts, and their landlines that had already been converted to Digital Voice, which requires electricity and an internet connection to work. Although (as required by Ofcom regulations), customers were supplied with a back-up battery pack for emergency power, this only lasted one hour. The result was that the Berwick MP, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, met with BT Openreach earlier this year and asked them to pause the rollout of Digital Voice and put in place alternative systems that could improve resilience.

Concerns have also been expressed that many that those in rural areas are generally not ready for the move over to digital to carry out everyday functions.

Rollout Of ‘Digital Voice’ Switchover Now Paused 

The incidents with the storms, concerns from age charities, concerns about rural communities and low levels of awareness about the planned changeover have all contributed to BT Openreach announcing that the rollout of the Digital Voice switchover is being paused. As expressed by BT Consumer CEO Marc Allera: “We underestimated the disruptive impact this upgrade would have on some of our customers. With hindsight we went too early, before many customers – particularly those who rely more heavily on landlines – understood why this change is necessary and what they needed to do.” Mr Allera has also said that “we acknowledge we have more work to do and will get on with putting these solutions in place to better help our customers go through this change” and said that BT will work power companies to enhance the resiliency of the network, achieve faster power restoration, and provide better back-up solutions. Mr Allera has also said that BT is pausing all further Digital Voice switchovers for any customers who don’t want to move to the new technology straight away.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For most businesses with an Internet connection and not in rural areas, and whose communications abilities weren’t disrupted by storms, the changeover looked as though it could be relatively trouble-free. It was also thought when the rollout began that if 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 minimised. However, there has been concern that sectors and organisations vital to UK business and infrastructure, that still rely on some attributes of the PSTN that may not be fully replicated in VoIP-based platforms may need extra help. As it turns out, however, the storms highlighted a lack of resilience in the new system and risks to and concerns by vulnerable groups, e.g. the elderly. It also highlighted how rural areas need extra help, and how power companies need to be involved and how these issues were not fully anticipated. BT has now acknowledged the issues, apologised, and halted the roll-out. For businesses that have already spent time planning and arranging for the change and anticipating the benefits of the switchover, this is likely to be frustrating. For downstream services, and some sectors and businesses where there were more complicated potential issues, the pause may provide some valuable extra time to prepare.

WhatsApp has announced that it will soon be introducing some new features to improve its voice messaging.

Voice Messaging  

WhatsApp’s voice messaging, introduced back in 2013, saves typing and is a fast way and free way to send expressive, encrypted messages. WhatsApp says that its users send 7 billion voice messages on average every day. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook/Meta and has been introducing more new features over the last two years to help it to compete with other messaging services like Snapchat.

The new features, to be rolled out in the next few weeks are:

– The ‘Out of Chat Playback’ feature which enables users to listen to a voice message outside of the chat, thereby allowing users to “multitask” or read and respond to other messages. This feature is particularly handy for listening to longer messages.

– The new ‘Pause/Resume Recording’ feature helps users to improve the content of their messages by giving them the option to pause the recording and resume when ready. This makes it easier, e.g. if interrupted while recording or if a bit more time is needed to structure and get all relevant thoughts into the message before hitting send.

– ‘Waveform Visualization’ shows users a visual representation of the sound on the voice message, making it easier for users to follow the recording.

– With ‘Draft Preview’, users can listen to voice messages before sending them. This can be very helpful for more important messages.

– Sometimes users can be interrupted when listening to a voice message. The ‘Remember Playback’ can save time by allowing users to pause when listening to a voice message, so that a user can pick up where they left off when returning to the chat rather than having to listen to the whole thing again.

– Another time-saving feature is ‘Fast Playback on Forwarded Messages’. This feature allows users to play voice messages at 1.5x or 2x speeds and listen to messages faster on both regular and forwarded messages.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

These new features to update WhatsApp’s voice messing, which has been around since 2013, is one of many updates to help WhatsApp stay popular and competitive, add value, and fend-off rivals. For example, in January Snapchat announced a major update (for iOS) which included improved calling, ‘Chat Replies’, Bitmoji Reactions (to allow for more expression), and Poll Stickers to enable emoji-powered polls in Snaps and Stories to survey friends. WhatsApp has added several new features over the last year or so including ‘View Once’ for photos and Vanishing Messages, both of which were to protect users and their privacy and to compete with Snapchat’s ‘Stories’. Many of WhatsApp’s new features are also part of a plan to consolidate and leverage the power of its other popular apps by integrating and making Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram interoperable. Last year, Facebook also announced that WhatsApp was beta testing multi-device capability so that it could be used on a smartphone and up to four other non-phone devices simultaneously, even if the phone battery was dead. This was a move to make it even more appealing to multi-device owning (business) users, an important market for WhatsApp, following on from the launch of WhatsApp Business back in 2018 which was designed with small businesses in mind. These latest voice messaging features show that the fight to stay at the top of the free encrypted messaging app market is still very much on and it is likely that more features will be added soon by WhatsApp and its rivals as part of this fight. It can only really be good news for users while the app remains free and encrypted as it increases their capabilities on an already familiar platform.

Following the discovery of a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability in its Chrome browser, Google has advised users to update Chrome to version 99.04844.84 or later. This security issue also affects the Microsoft’s Edge browser because it uses the same underlying technology as Chrome. Microsoft is, therefore, also advising users to install the latest Edge security updates.

The Edge Bar is a handy floating sidebar / mini (Bing) browser that comes with the latest version of Edge in Windows and makes searching and accessing email and other platforms faster and easier. Here’s how to enable and use it:

– Open Edge and click on the three dots (top right).

– Select ‘Settings’.

– Select ‘Edge bar’ in the left panel and click on ‘Open Edge bar’ on the right.

– Search for something with the Bing search engine at the top of the Edge Bar.

– Click on the bookmarks to platforms such as Outlook and LinkedIn shown on the right of the Bar (added by default) and add your own favourite website bookmarks there. To add them, click on the plus (+) button (right section of the Edge bar), enter the URL, and click on Add.

The UK government’s Department for Transport has announced that it will soon be unveiling new plans for the tenfold expansion in the number of Electric Vehicle (EV) chargepoints in the UK by 2030.

Support To Create 300,000 Public EV chargepoints 

The Department for Transport has announced that its new plans, backed by £1.6 billion, under the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, will support the UK market to reach 300,000 public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints by 2030. This is the equivalent to almost 5 times the number of fuel pumps on UK roads today.

Investment 

The government says that £500 million will be invested in bringing competitively priced public chargepoints to communities across the UK. It is understood that this includes a £450 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which will boost projects like EV hubs and innovative on-street charging, so those without driveways can still benefit from cleaner transport. Another aim of the new strategy is to make sure that the new chargepoints are distributed so that they can cover the entire country.

A pilot scheme for the LEVI fund has also launched, enabling local authorities to bid for a share of £10 million in funding to work with industry and boost public charging opportunities. LEVI funding also includes up to £50 million to fund staff to work on local challenges and public chargepoint planning so that development complements other zero emission forms of travel e.g., walking and cycling.

New Legal Requirements For Chargepoint Operators 

The government’s plans also incorporate new legal requirements for chargepoint operators so that EV drivers can pay easily by contactless, compare charging prices, and find nearby chargepoints via apps. A 99 per cent reliability rate will also be required at rapid chargepoints.

Private Sector 

The government is also keen to highlight how, coinciding with its own announcement, the UK’s most-used private sector charging network company, bp pulse, has made its own announcement of its plans to spend £1 billion on developing charging infrastructure in the UK, supporting hundreds of new jobs. It is thought that the private sector will need to play a key role in helping the country make the switch to electric and the UK’s most-used charging network.

Chargepoint operators have already committed to installing an additional 15,000 rapid chargepoints across England’s entire road network which should take the total to over 100,000 on-street chargepoints by 2025.

Easier Right Across The Country 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of the new plans: “We’re powering ahead with plans to help British people go electric, with our expanding charging network making journeys easier right across the country” and that clean transport will “create new high-skilled jobs for our automotive and energy sectors and ultimately secure more sustainable and affordable motoring for all”. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps added: “The scale of the climate challenge ahead of us all is well known, and decarbonising transport is at the very heart of our agenda” and “that’s why we’re ensuring the country is EV-fit for future generations by the end of this decade, revolutionising our charging network and putting the consumer first.” 

Concern 

Altough broadly welcoming the government’s announcement, the RAC’s head of policy, Nicholas Lyes, expressed some concerns, saying: “While the Government’s expectation of having 300,000 chargepoints available by 2030 might sound impressive, we are concerned that this is not going to be sufficient with drivers looking to switch to an electric vehicle en-masse ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Additionally, accessibility standards and assistance for those without smartphone apps should also be part of the overall strategy.” 

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

Concern about the UK’s EV charging network has long been cited as one of the main barriers to the growth and take-up of EV ownership in the UK. If this announcement of funding quickly materialises into real improvements in, and a widening of the network nationwide (along with public sector help), it could really boost EV take-up. As highlighted by the RAC, however, the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is looming very near and although ambitious-sounding, these latest plans may need to be dramatically scaled-up if an en-masse switch to EVs is possible in the allotted time. For now though, the announcement has showed that the idea is firmly on the government’s agenda, may act as a confidence booster for those looking at EV ownership soon, and is, of course good news in terms of moving the country towards its environmental targets. There is also the prospect that more jobs and innovation could also come out of the investment.

The UK’s national fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud, says that it has received 196 reports of scam emails claiming to be raising funds for victims of the war in Ukraine.

Facebook Post  

In a Meta / Facebook post on 18 March, Action Fraud reported:

“We’ve received 196 reports about FAKE emails purporting to raise money for those affected by the crisis in Ukraine. Some of the emails even claim to be from Wladimir Klitschko.” 

Fake Websites Too 

ESET researchers have also reported seeing a number of fake websites showing images of soldiers and explosions and the flag of Ukraine, asking for aid donations but with no specific details of how the money will be used. ESET commented in tweet: “Cybercriminals have no shame. With no humanitarian organization and only generic purpose mentioned, scammers try to lure out money from people trying to help #Ukraine during the #war.”   

Advice  

The advice from Action Fraud is that if any suspicious emails are received, they should be forwarded to: report@phishing.gov.uk.  Also, the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator have published information online here to help the public to ‘give safely’ to registered charities and causes helping to support and protect people affected by the invasion of Ukraine.

Simple Checks  

The Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator suggest that those looking to donate to causes working in Ukraine and neighbouring countries should make some simple checks before donating, such as:

– Check the charity’s name and registration number at www.gov.uk/checkcharity.

– Check to see if the charity is genuine before parting with any financial information, e.g. check online for details of the charity and/or contact them to ask about what work they’re doing and how funds are spent.

– Exercise caution when responding to emails or clicking on links within the emails.

– Look for the Fundraising Badge (the Fundraising Regulator’s logo) on charity fundraising materials. This is a sign that they fundraise in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Helen Stephenson CBE, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said about donating causes helping the people of Ukraine: “We encourage everyone to follow our simple steps to check that their money gets to its intended cause. Donating to a registered charity is a good way to feel confident of that.”  

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

Just as we saw with the pandemic, scammers will exploit any situation to extract money and sensitive, personal information from people. Situations where there is a strong emotional response and an urge to help and move quickly are ideal for scammers who rely people acting on emotional impulse and not checking or using critical thought or discussing their intentions with others who may alert them to the danger. Taking time to make simple checks, such as some basic online research can help ensure that money goes to those who need it rather than to fraudsters funding more crime. The advice is to be on the alert for fake emails and social-media posts from scammers looking to cash-in on the crisis in Ukraine, report and to delete and suspicious emails and make some basic checks before donating to any charity or organisation.

In this article, we look at the cyber-crime gang Lapsus$, how they operate and the details of some of their recent high-profile attacks.

Cyber-Crime Gang

Lapsus$ is reported to be a mostly teenage cyber-crime gang (hackers), mainly based in South America, yet with its alleged multi-millionaire teenage leader based in Oxford, UK. The gang, which typically uses ransomware and data extortion, has risen to prominence over the last year or so thanks to frequent attacks on major targets. Although some tech and security commentators have described them as inexperienced and amateurish, they have expanded their reach globally and created many costly problems for some large organisations. Much of the money reported to have been taken by them is likely to have come not just from extortion but also from taking over individual user accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges and draining cryptocurrency holdings.

Social Engineering 

Some online reports indicate that Lapsus$ Initially gains access to organisations prior to extortion through social engineering. This is reported to involve bribing and tricking employees at customer support call centres and help desks, for example. Microsoft, which was targeted by the group, wrote in a post that it had found instances where Lapsus$  “had successfully gained access to target organisations through recruited employees (or employees of their suppliers or business partners).” 

Telegram Group 

Lapsus$ is known to have a group of around 45,000 subscribers on Telegram (instant messenger channel) on which the hacking group members are known to be highly active. It is believed that the Telegram group and multiple other social media platforms have been used for recruitment since at least November 2021.

The Leader? 

It has been reported that the leader of  Lapsus$ is a 16-year-old boy based in Oxford who uses the hacking names “White” or “Breachbase”. It has also been reported (and alleged) that the autistic teenager has amassed a massive $14m (£10.6m) fortune (in cryptocurrency) from hacking!

Doxxed 

The teenage alleged leader’s identity as was revealed after he reportedly mismanaged the Doxbin website that he controlled and leaked the Doxbin data set to Telegram. This led angry customers of the site, which shares personal information about people, to retaliate by doxing him, i.e. publicly revealing personal information about him online. It has also been reported, however, that cyber-security researchers, e.g. Unit 221B, have been tracking the alleged leader of Lapsus$ and have been aware of his real identity for almost a year.

Father Unaware 

Following the doxing, it has been reported that White/Breachbase’s father was unaware of his son’s alleged involvement in hacking and that his father believed that extended periods spent on his computer was simply the result of his son playing video games.

Attacks So Far 

Some of those targeted and attacked by Lapsus$ are so far thought to include:

– Security company Okta. The attack in January, which allegedly involved a third-party contractor, is reported to have been a case where the data of (at worst) 366 of its clients may have been “viewed or acted upon”. News of the issue caused a 9 per cent fall in the company’s shares.

– Microsoft, which reported that the group had only gained limited access after compromising a single account. Microsoft, which calls the Lapsus$ group DEV-0537, has published an extensive post about their activities and methods here: https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2022/03/22/dev-0537-criminal-actor-targeting-organizations-for-data-exfiltration-and-destruction/

– Samsung, which recently confirmed that the hacking group had breached its security and stolen code relating to the operation of Galaxy smartphone devices.

– Nvidia (US GPU giant). It was reported that Lapsus$ broke into NVIDIA’s internal network, stole sensitive data (from hashed login credentials to trade secrets) and then leaked NVIDIA’s official code signing certificates.

– Ubisoft (a French gaming publisher) has also been targeted.

Recent Arrests 

Following an investigation, it has been reported that City of London Police have now arrested seven teenagers over their suspected connections with the Lapsus$  hacking group. It is not clear, however, whether this included the suspected 16-year-old leader.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

It is shocking that a group of teenagers apparently on their computers in their bedrooms at home may be behind some high-profile extortion crimes against major organisations, as well as taking over cryptocurrency accounts, amassing vast digital wealth in the process. In this case, although the attacks may have exposed some technical security holes in company defences, the group seems mostly to have relied upon (according to Microsoft) using social engineering, e.g. recruiting and bribing relatively low-level insiders. This is difficult for businesses to defend against, and it highlights the importance of monitoring and training about cyber threats in companies. Although some arrests have now been made, the continued existence of a huge subscriber base on Telegram, and details stolen in previous attacks means that the danger may not be over, and others may copy the gang’s methods or replace lost members.