Apps

Goodbye Skype for Business, Hello Teams

Posted on by Andy Miller

Microsoft has announced that Skype for Business Online will be giving way to ‘Teams’, with support for Skype for Business ending on 31 July 2021, and all new Microsoft 365 customers due to get Microsoft Teams by default from 1 September 2019.

What Is Teams?

Introduced back in November 2016, ‘Teams’ is a platform designed to help collaborative working and combines features such as workplace chat, meetings, notes, and attachments. Described by Microsoft as a “complete chat and online meetings solution”, it normally integrates with the company’s Office 365 subscription office productivity suite, and Teams is widely considered to be Microsoft’s answer to ‘Slack’.

Slack is a popular, multi-channel collaborative working hub that offers chat channels with companies and businesses you regularly work with, direct voice or video calls and screen-sharing, integrated drag-and-drop file sharing, and an App Directory with over 1,500 apps that can be integrated into Slack.

Back in July 2018, Microsoft introduced a free, basic features version of Teams which did not require an Office 365 account, in order to increase user numbers and tempt users away from Slack.

According to Microsoft figures announced in July, Teams now has 13 million users which are more than Slack’s 10 million users.  Microsoft is keen to promote Teams as a new communications tool rather than just an upgrade to Skype for Business.

End of Skype For Business
Microsoft originally announced at the end of 2017 that Teams was set to replace Skype for Business as Microsoft’s primary client for intelligent communications in Office 365.

With this in mind, Microsoft ended support for Skype for Business at the end of July, will be giving all new 365 customers Teams by default from 1 September and has said that current Skype for Business Online customers won’t notice any change in service in the meantime.

Migration and Interoperability

Microsoft has announced investment and interoperability that will ensure a painless migration to Teams for Skype for Business Online.  For example, from the first quarter of 2020 customers on both platforms will be able to communicate via calls and text chats, DynamicE911 will work in Teams, and Teams also includes contact centre integration and compliance recording solutions.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Microsoft is succeeding in challenging and overtaking its competitor Slack in the business collaborative working communications tools market.  Brand reach and power coupled with a free version, and now compulsory migration for existing and default for new users has seen Teams reach the point where, as planned by Microsoft more than two years ago, it can ably replace Skype for Business.

It appears that Microsoft is making efforts and investing to ensure that the migration is as smooth for (and attractive to) existing Skype business customers as possible and that the voice and video capabilities, cognitive and data services and insights that Teams offers should add value that could translate into advantages and extra efficiencies for users.

Tech Tip – Citymapper

Posted on by Andy Miller

If you’re out and about on business in a city at home or abroad, the Citymapper app provides trip planning, real-time information about departures, offline maps, alerts about delays and disruptions, and much more.

The app covers many cities around the world, and the European cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Paris, Lyon, Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg.

To find the app go to the Google Play Store.

1000+ Android Apps Harvest Our Data Without Our Permission

Posted on by Andy Miller

Researchers from the International Computer Science Institute have reported that up to 1,325 Android apps are gathering data from devices after people have denied them permission, and Google claims that it will address the problem with the introduction of the new Android “Q” Operating System.

Apps Finding Way Around Privacy Restrictions

According to the ICSI researchers, who presented their findings last month at the Federal Trade Commission’s PrivacyCon, 1000+ apps are finding their way around privacy restrictions and are able to gather geolocation data, phone identifiers, and other data from users who may be thinking that they have successfully denied apps access to such data.

For example, in the study of 88,000+ apps from the Google Play store, the researchers were able to identify 1,325 apps that violate permissions on Android by using workarounds hidden in their code that can enable personal data to be taken from multiple sources including Wi-Fi connections and metadata stored in photos.

Which Apps?

The researchers highlighted apps such as Shutterfly photo-editing app which gathers GPS coordinates from photos and sends the data to its own servers, even after users have declined to give permission to access location data, and Baidu’s Hong Kong Disneyland park app and Samsung’s Health and Browser apps were found (like 13 other apps) to be able to piggyback off other apps that had been granted permission in order to obtain data like phone identifiers and IMEI numbers.

Android Q Could Help

It is thought the introduction of the latest (17th) version of Android’s Operating system, Android Q, released as a beta on March 13th and due for wider release later this year may be able to address many of these privacy concerns thanks to more stringent security features.  For example, users will be able to definitively choose and control when apps have permission to see their location i.e. never, only when the app is in use and running, or all the time when in the background. With Android Q, background apps won’t be able to jump into the foreground, and there will also be new permissions relating to the accessing of background photos, video, and audio files.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

With mobile and app use being a normal part of everyday life, and with most people unable and unlikely to spend the time checking permissions and T&Cs on everything, we have to take on trust that when we deny it permissions, an app will abide by our decisions.  It may be a surprise, therefore, at a time when GDPR is in force and data privacy and security is a topic that many users think about and actively try to protect that so many apps are able to find workarounds that enable them to keep gathering data about us. It appears that it may be much more difficult to stay private online than many of us believe.

It is good news, therefore, that Android Q may provide a way to offer us greater protection and provide more of a challenge to companies and organisations that want access to our data e.g. to help target us with advertising, even though app developers may argue that they are simply using the gathered data to help enhance and personalise our experiences of their apps (to keep us using them).  App developers are in a highly competitive and crowded market and although gathering and using customer data to make their apps more indispensable may seem legitimate, most of us value our online privacy, would object to having our data permissions effectively ignored, and may feel frustrated that we still have so few tools and cues to help us effectively control our privacy.

Tech Tip – Apps To Stop Pocket Dialling

Posted on by Andy Miller

If you’ve ever accidentally pocket-dialled someone or accidentally clicked through things on your phone while it’s in your pocket, apps such as ‘Pocket Screen Lock’, ‘Pocket Mode’ and ‘Pocket Sensor’ can prevent this from happening.

These kinds of apps include a proximity sensor to enable them to detect when the phone is in your pocket whereupon it is locked and is unlocked again when it’s taken out of your pocket.

To find these and similar apps for Android, go to Google Play Store.

Tech Tip – ‘Over’ App

Posted on by Andy Miller

Stylish and engaging social media posts are an important part of marketing communications.  The Over app has the tools to help you to quickly and easily create stylish designs packed with photos, images and text, ready for Instagram, Facebook and other social sites, as well as for posters and flyers.

Over has over 84,000 graphics, over 350 fonts, and over 500 customisable templates so that you can create posts to suit your requirements.

To get ‘Over’, go to the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store.

Tech Tip – ExpressVPN App

Posted on by Andy Miller

If you’d prefer to keep your communications from your mobile device as secure as possible you may like to try a secure VPN app such as ExpressVPN.

The Express VPN app is straightforward to use, offers both a virtual private network and a number of advanced features such as the choice of connecting to 100+ servers around the world. ExpressVPN, which hides your IP address and encrypts your network data offers apps for every device you own on a single subscription: Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, routers, and more.

The app is available from the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store / iTunes.

Salesforce Adding Blockchain Platform To CRM

Posted on by Andy Miller

The Salesforce cloud-based CRM platform is adding a low code, blockchain-powered service that will allow users to share data with third parties in a secure, transparent, and auditable way.

Blockchain

Blockchain, the technology that was famously behind the bitcoin cryptocurrency, has been described by its Co-Founder Nic Carey as being like “a big spreadsheet in the cloud that anyone can use, but no one can erase or modify”.  Blockchain is an open-source, free technology that acts as an incorruptible peer-to-peer network / a kind of ledger that allows multiple parties to transfer value in a secure and transparent way.

Salesforce Blockchain Platform

Salesforce is positioning its Blockchain platform as a low-code system that has been customised to fit with Salesforce’s flagship Lightning CRM product.  The Blockchain platform has been built on the open source technology developed by Hyperledger Sawtooth. Salesforce Blockchain is currently only available to select design partners but will have its general release in 2020.

Why Blockchain?

Many businesses and organisations are now finding that they need to harness and share large amounts of data with a growing network of partners and third parties.  This sharing needs to be accomplished, however, in a way that is secure and incorruptible, and transparent and with a clear audit trail.  There is, of course, also the need to save costs, reduce inefficiencies, and make the process of sharing data as fast and easy as possible.

Also, in terms of the broader function of a CRM system, companies and organisations need the most up-to-date and effective way to verify and maintain contracts, send transactions, and essentially “automate trust”. Blockchain offers all these benefits.

Blockchain-as-a-Service

Salesforce is one of a growing number of tech brands getting in the rapidly growing BaaS market which offers enterprises the chance to deploy distributed ledgers without the cost or risk of deploying it in-house, and without needing to find in-house developers.

Tech commentators have noted, for example, that Microsoft and many other big tech companies, including Amazon and Oracle, are now looking to make the most of the growing blockchain as a service (BaaS) market. Microsoft was one of the first software vendors to offer BaaS on its Azure cloud platform as far back as 2015, but the predictions are that from the end of this year onwards, the market (estimated to be worth $7billion) will start to grow rapidly.

Real World Examples

Salesforce is already reporting ways that its new Blockchain platform is making a positive difference, such as at S&P Global Ratings which is using the service to reduce the time it takes to review and approve new business bank accounts.

There are now plenty of other examples of how Blockchain technology is being used (and is about to be used) in the real business world to add value, increase efficiencies, create opportunities and provide innovative ways of meeting old business challenges.  These include:

  • Using the data on a blockchain ledger to record the temperature of sensitive medicines being transported from manufacturer to hospital in hot climates. The ‘incorruptible’ aspect of the blockchain data gives a clear record of care and responsibility along the whole supply chain.
  • Using an IBM-based blockchain ledger to record data about wine certification, ownership and storage history. This has helped to combat fraud in the industry and has provided provenance and re-assurance to buyers.
  • Shipping Company Maersk using a blockchain-based system for tracking consignments thereby offering visibility and efficiency i.e. digitising a formerly paper-based process that involved multiple interactions.
  • Start-up company ‘Electron’ building a blockchain-based system for sharing information between those involved in supplying energy which could speed up and simplify the supplier switching process. It may also be used for smart grid processes, such as local load-balancing of supply and demand.
  • Data storage solutions company Seagate Technology (Seagate), and IBM working together and using Blockchain and advanced cryptographic product identification technology to reduce disk-drive product counterfeiting.
  • Facebook is reported to be developing its own blockchain-based cryptocurrency that will enable its users to have a PayPal-like experience when purchasing advertised products, as well as providing authentication and an audit trail.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

For Salesforce customers, particularly the smaller customers, having Blockchain-as-a-Service as part of their CRM should enable them to solve some of their biggest data-sharing challenges (security, trust, and transparency) in a way that doesn’t require lots of code, and in a way that doesn’t require the considerable cost or risk of trying to develop and deploy it in-house.

The benefits of blockchain technology are just starting to be realised and exploited by many different companies around the world, and the BaaS market looks set to grow rapidly with the big tech companies and brands all looking to compete by offering different Blockchain-based services to businesses and organisations of all sizes.

Blockchain has already proven itself to be a technology that can save time and costs, provide fast and secure traceability, visibility and efficiency, and provide a real competitive advantage for companies that are willing to investigate how it could be used to add value to their particular business.

Even governments and cities around the world have realised the benefits and are committing considerable resources to Blockchain. For example, Dubai has committed to putting all of its documents on blockchain in the next few years and has founded a public-private initiative called the Global Blockchain Council to foster the development and use of blockchain technology in and between local government teams, local businesses and international start-ups.

GCHQ Eavesdropping Proposal Soundly Rejected

Posted on by Andy Miller

A group of 47 technology companies, rights groups and security policy experts have released an open letter stating their objections to the idea of eavesdropping on encrypted messages on behalf of GCHQ.

“Ghost” User

The objections are being made to the (as yet) hypothetical idea floated by the UK National Cyber Security Centre’s technical director Ian Levy and GCHQ’s chief codebreaker Crispin Robinson for allowing a “ghost” user / third party i.e. a person at GCHQ, to see the text of an encrypted conversation (call, chat, or group chat) without notifying the participants.

According to Levy and Robinson, they would only seek exceptional access to data where there was a legitimate need, where there that kind of access was the least intrusive way of proceeding, and where there was also appropriate legal authorisation.

Challenge

The Challenge for government security agencies in recent times has been society’s move away from conventional telecommunications channels which could lawfully and relatively easily be ‘tapped’, to digital and encrypted communications channels e.g. WhatsApp, which are essentially invisible to government eyes.  For example, back in September last year, this led to the ‘Five Eyes’ governments threatening legislative or other measures to be allowed access to end-to-end encrypted apps such as WhatsApp.  In the UK back in 2017, then Home Secretary Amber Rudd had also been pushing for ‘back doors’ to be built into encrypted services and had attracted criticism from tech companies that as well as compromising privacy, this would open secure encrypted services to the threat of hacks.

Investigatory Powers Act

The Investigatory Powers Act which became law in November 2016 in the UK included the option of ‘hacking’ warrants by the government, but the full force of the powers of the law was curtailed somewhat by legal challenges.  For example, back in December 2018, Human rights group Liberty won the right for a judicial review into part 4 of the Investigatory Powers Act.  This is the part that was supposed to give many government agencies powers to collect electronic communications and records of internet use, in bulk, without reason for suspicion.

The Open Letter

The open letter to GCHQ in Cheltenham and Adrian Fulford, the UK’s investigatory powers commissioner was signed by tech companies including Google, Apple, WhatsApp and Microsoft, 23 civil society organisations, including Big Brother Watch, Human Rights Watch, and 17 security and policy experts.  The letter called for the abandonment of the “ghost” proposal on the grounds that it could threaten cyber security and fundamental human rights, including privacy and free expression.  The coalition of signatories also urged GCHQ to avoid alternate approaches that would also threaten digital security and human rights, and said that most Web users “rely on their confidence in reputable providers to perform authentication functions and verify that the participants in a conversation are the people they think they are and only those people”. As such, the letter pointed out that the trust relationship and the authentication process would be undermined by the knowledge that a government “ghost” could be allowed to sit-in and scrutinise what may be perfectly innocent conversations.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

With digital communications in the hands of private companies, and often encrypted, governments realise that (legal) surveillance has been made increasingly difficult for them.  This has resulted in legislation (The Investigatory Powers Act) with built-in elements to force tech companies to co-operate in allowing government access to private conversations and user data. This has, however, been met with frustration in the form of legal challenges, and other attempts by the UK government to stop end-to-end encryption have, so far, also been met with resistance, criticism, and counter-arguments by tech companies and rights groups. This latest “ghost” proposal represents the government’s next step in an ongoing dialogue around the same issue. The tech companies would clearly like to avoid more legislation and other measures (which look increasingly likely) that would undermine the trust between them and their customers, which is why the signatories have stated that they would welcome a continuing dialogue on the issues.  The government is clearly going to persist in its efforts to gain some kind of surveillance access to tech company communications services, albeit for national security (counter-terrorism) reasons for the most part, but is also keen to be seen to do so in a way that is not overtly like ‘big brother’, and in a way that allows them to navigate successfully through the existing rights legislation.

Tech Tip – Sleep App That Could Help You Work

Posted on by Andy Miller

We spend one-third of our lives asleep, and it has been estimated that around £30bn and 200,000 working days are lost in the UK each year through a lack of good sleep (gov.uk).  The Rise app shows you how to get better sleep, and keeps a record of your sleeping progress, thereby helping you to feel better and be more productive at work.

Rise offers 4 techniques to help users with sleep, provided by experts, 120 sleep relaxing guides, and sleep tracking tools to enable you to understand how your sleep is affected by the techniques. The app learns your sleep patterns and suggests the technique that may suit you best.  Rise claims that a massive 85% of app respondents reported better sleep after using the Sleep Better app.

You can find the Rise app in Google Play and Apple iTunes stores.

Could Biometric Regulations Be On The Way Soon?

Posted on by Andy Miller

A written parliamentary question from MP Luciana Berger about the possibility of bringing forward legislation to regulate the use of facial recognition technology has led the Home Office to hint that the legislation (and more) may be on the way soon.

Questions and Answers

The question by the MP about bringing forward ‘biometrics legislation’ related to how facial recognition was being used for immigration purposes at airports. Last month, MP David Davis also asked about possible safeguards to protect the security and privacy of citizens’ data that is held as part of the Home Office’s biometrics programme.

Caroline Nokes has said on behalf of the Home Office, in response to these and other questions about biometrics, that options to simplify and extend governance and oversight of biometrics across the Home Office sector are being looked at, including where law enforcement, border and immigration control use of biometrics is concerned.  Caroline Nokes is also reported to have said that other measures would also be looked at with a view to improving the governance and use of biometrics in advance of “possible legislation”.

Controversial

There have been several controversial incidents where the Police have used/held trials of facial recognition at events and in public places, for example:

In February this year a deliberately overt trial of live facial recognition technology by the Metropolitan Police in the centre of Romford led to an incident whereby a man who was observed pulling his jumper over part of his face and putting his head down while walking past the police cameras ended up being fined after being challenged by police.  The 8-hour trial only resulted in three arrests as a direct result of facial recognition technology.

In December 2018 ICO head Elizabeth Dunham was reported to have launched a formal investigation into how police forces use facial recognition technology after high failure rates, misidentifications and worries about legality, bias, and privacy.

A trial of facial recognition at the Champions League final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff back in 2017 only yielded one arrest, and this was the arrest of a local man for something unconnected to the Champions League. This prompted criticism that the trial was a waste of money.

Biometrics – Approved By The FIDO Alliance

One area where biometrics has got the seal of approval by The FIDO Alliance is in its use in facial recognition, and fingerprint scanning as part the login for millions of Windows 10 devices from next month. The FIDO Alliance is an open industry association whose mission is to develop and promote authentication standards that help reduce the world’s over-reliance on passwords.

In a recent interview with CBNC, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer Bret Arsenault, signalled the corporation’s move away from passwords on their own as a means of authentication towards biometrics and a “passwordless future”.  Windows Hello (the Windows 10 authenticator) has been built to align with FIDO2 standards so it works with Microsoft cloud services, and this has led to the FIDO Alliance now granting Microsoft official certification for Windows Hello from the forthcoming May 2019 upgrade.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Taking images of our faces as part of a facial recognition system used by the government may seem like an efficient way of identifying and verification e.g. for immigration purposes, but our facial images constitute personal data.  For this reason, we should be concerned about how and where they are gathered (with or without our knowledge) and how they are stored, as well as how and why they are used.  There are security and privacy matters to consider, and it may well make sense to put regulations and perhaps legislation in place now in order to provide some protection for citizens and to ensure that biometrics are used responsibly by all, including the state, and that privacy and security are given proper consideration.

It should be remembered that some of the police facial recognition tests have led to mistaken identity, and this is a reminder that the technology is still in its early stages, and this may provide another reason for regulations and legislation now.