On 14th March 1950, the first prototype of the silicon transistor was demonstrated by researchers at Bell Labs, the company spawned from its eponymous founder Alexander Graham Bell (i.e. the person widely accredited with inventing the telephone).

This incredible breakthrough device then paved the way for modern digital electronics. Some people may even remember the valves they replaced which were relatively slow, bulky, expensive, unreliable and which created significantly more waste heat. The fact that transistors could be miniaturised and printed onto integrated circuitry (i.e. silicon ‘chips’) meant they revolutionised electronics and ushered in the modern computer age. A modern mobile-phone can contain in the order of 20 billion transistors. A phone containing that many valves would be bigger than an international soccer stadium!

As computers became increasingly powerful and ubiquitous, they facilitated the development and expansion of the Internet and on March 15, 1985, the first internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered, almost exactly 21 years before Twitter was launched (21st March 2006).

Given that there are around 500 million tweets sent every day now (and that’s just Twitter – think of all the other social updates) perhaps spare a thought for the rise of transistor next time your phone pings with a new message.

In addition to Windows Defender, Windows 10 has a Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) that’s designed to remove hidden malware from your device, and normally receives regular updates and runs itself in the background. However, if you’re worried you have a malware infection, you can download and run it manually. Here’s how:

– Click on the Start menu and type “mrt.” If it’s already shown on your device and click ‘run’ or follow the link to Microsoft’s MSRT page and click on ‘download’.

– When running MSRT, you can choose ‘Quick scan’ to search through the most likely places for malware, a ‘Full scan’ for a complete system scan or a ‘Customised scan’ for specific drives or folders.

– MSRT is not a replacement for good antivirus software but is another tool that could help, post-infection.

There was some relief from UK businesses hoping for government help following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after HSBC rescued the UK arm of the bank by buying it for £1.

What Happened? 

Due to what many financial analysts believe to be SVB making some bad investments and betting (badly) on interest rates, SVB was shut down by US regulators last week in what has been reported as the largest failure of a US bank since 2008.

The UK Arm Important To The Tech Sector 

SVB was mainly a ‘tech bank’ with the kind of tech start-up customers that many other more traditional banks may see as too risky to deal with. The UK arm of this US-based bank has 3,000 customers who, following the collapse of the bank, were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to access cash and pay wages this week. These customers looked to the UK government for help after the US government quickly agreed to guarantee the money of US customers affected. HSBC then quickly stepped-in to buy what was a financially healthy UK arm of the bank for juts £1 in a deal described by HSBC boss Noel Quinn as “too good an opportunity to miss”. 

Risk To A Vital UK Growth Sector & Risk Of Spreading 

With the UK government’s emphasis on the importance of the technology sector to the future growth of the UK economy, there were crisis talks between UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the prime minister, the Bank of England governor, and HSBC to get a rescue deal together that wouldn’t involve taxpayer money.

Another major fear since the news of the collapsed bank has been the possibility of the collapse becoming contagious. Despite assurances that no other UK banks had been materially affected by SVB’s collapse, and European finance ministers and the EU’s economics commissioner playing down the contagion risk, the markets are showing some signs of panic. For example, last Friday, the Pan-European STOXX banking index (.SX7P) was down as much as 10.4 per cent in afternoon trade and hit its lowest level since early January, and the FTSE has suffered a series of sharp falls as investors remain uneasy.

Still Frozen 

Despite the HSBC rescue, reports indicate that the UK SVB online banking facility remains frozen, meaning that tech company customers, many of whom have SVB as their only bank, remain unable to access their money as normal.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For 3,000 UK business customers (plus their supply chains and stakeholders), this is an incredibly stressful time and especially for those who had put all their eggs in the one SVB basket. The ripples have hit the financial markets and, therefore, the wider business community and there are still fears of further contagion. For HSBC, buying the UK arm of SVB which was an essentially healthy bank for just £1 appears to have been an exceptionally good deal. For the UK government, which is relying on the tech sector to help grow the UK economy, the collapse of a bank that served start-up tech companies has proved to be a very worrying development that prompted frantic crisis talks. HSBC’s rescue deal, however, has given some feeling of security and hope to the 3,000 UK (mostly tech) business customers affected by the collapse who will hopefully be able to use the online banking facility soon.

Here we look at how popular streaming service Netflix has faced a user backlash on social media after it accidentally posted what appear to be some unpopular plans to tackle password sharing on its platform.

What’s Been The Problem? 

In recent years, and particularly during the pandemic, Netflix has faced the issue of password sharing, where Netflix users share their login credentials with friends or family members who don’t live with them or don’t have their own account. This has resulted in lost revenue for Netflix as the company has missed out on potential subscribers who have shared accounts instead of paying for their own.

Pressure mounted in Netflix (and other streaming platforms) following the Intellectual Property Office in December highlighting how password sharers could be breaking copyright law and that streaming services themselves have a responsibility to enforce it.

Netflix, therefore, has faced the challenges of how to tackle the password issue without alienating paying customers and losing them to competitors like Amazon Prime and Disney+, in addition to trying to reverse falling subscriber numbers, while increasing revenue.

What Has Netflix Done To Address The Issue? 

Netflix has taken several measures already to address password sharing, including:

– Limiting the number of simultaneous streams. Netflix has set a limit on the number of simultaneous streams that can be accessed with a single account. Depending on the subscription plan, users can stream on one to four devices at a time.

– Testing verification measures. Netflix has tested different verification measures, such as sending a verification code to the account owner’s email or phone number, to ensure that only authorised users are accessing the account.

– Partnership with TV manufacturers. Netflix has partnered with TV manufacturers to embed the Netflix app into smart TVs. This makes it easier for users to access Netflix without needing to log in with their credentials each time.

– Focusing on content. Netflix has emphasised the importance of creating original content that is only available on the platform, which encourages users to subscribe rather than rely on password sharing.

– Trying to encourage account sharers to move of their own accord. Netflix has done this by letting people transfer their profile to a new account.

– Trialling (in South America) the allowance of people to add sub-accounts for up to two people they don’t live with for an extra £2-£3 a month.

New Measures Revealed 

The latest proposed measures to tackle password sharing were reportedly posted by mistake recently on a help page, which has since been changed. It’s been reported that these new measures, which come into force in the UK later this month, include:

– Access to the Netflix service will be limited to a single primary location (called a “Netflix household”) based on the account holder’s wi-fi network and the devices connected to it. If moving house, an account holder can request a change of primary location via the “get help” section in the Netflix app. Users will also be able to the platform while temporarily away from home on verified devices, but will need to use their chosen device to watch the service over their home wi-fi before they leave in order to verify the device they watch Netflix on for seven consecutive days

– Users must verify the devices they watch Netflix on at least once every 31 days.

– As was trialled in South America, Netflix customers will be able to buy an extra member slot for their existing accounts for an additional small fee.

– Extra members will be able to watch Netflix from anywhere but must create their account in the same country as the account holder’s.

Backlash 

Examples of the kind of criticism that Netflix received on social media in a backlash against the reported new anti-password sharing measures include:

– Suggestions that requiring monthly logins and travel codes could give the impression that Netflix is treating customers like criminals.

– Criticism that the measures don’t appear to take account of long-distance relationships and families with children at college or university.

– Criticism that users can’t use their Netflix account if travelling for more than 7 days.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Netflix needs to increase its revenue and get at least something more from the estimated 100 million households that are password sharing. While it was happy to sign up vast numbers of users during the pandemic, leaving the password-sharing loophole open for some time means that it now faces some serious challenges. For example, taking away a feature that customers have become used to and valued, adding more hoops to jump through in terms of verification, asking for more money for the same service, and imposing new rules at a time when they have stiff competition (i.e. low barriers to exit) from the likes of Amazon Prime and Disney+  could see many users simply jumping ship. This is, therefore, a risky move and a dangerous time for Netflix and it is likely that competitor streaming platforms will be stepping up moves to highlight the comparative benefits of their service and offers to help tempt disgruntled Netflix users into switching.

The boss of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, has said he would rather stop users in the UK from using the app than lower its security, as suggested by the UK’s Online Safety Bill.

End-to-end Encrypted App 

One of the key security features of Meta’s WhatsApp is its end-to-end encryption. This ensures that only the intended recipient can access and read the message or data, because the information is encrypted on the sender’s device and decrypted on the recipient’s device, without being accessible or readable by any intermediaries or third parties, including the service provider or government agencies. Crucially, this complete encryption also means (in relation to the latest developments) that not even WhatsApp itself can read users’ messages.

However, this was identified as being a problem for the UK government back in 2017 (when Amber Rudd) was Home Secretary following reports that London terror attacker Khalid Masood used WhatsApp’s encrypted message service minutes before the killings, and there were calls for a ‘back door’ being built into the app.

The Online Safety Bill 

The UK government’s Online Safety Bill, originally proposed by former PM Teresa May, is (draft) legislation that’s designed to place a ‘duty of care’ on internet companies which host user-generated content in order to limit the spread of illegal content on these services.

The idea of the bill is to prevent the spread of illegal content and activity (e.g. images of child abuse, terror material, and hate crimes), as well as to protect children from harmful material.

The proposed bill, in its current form however, means that WhatsApp would be required to scan messages within its app for child abuse material, something that would not be possible unless the security of the app’s encryption was weakened or removed. It has been proposed, for example, that under the bill, secure apps like WhatsApp would need to adopt “accredited technology” to identify and remove child-abuse material.

Would Rather Block UK Users 

The suggestion that WhatsApp’s security would be required to be weakened in any way under the requirements of the Online Safety Bill has led to WhatsApp boss saying he would refuse to comply if asked to weaken the privacy of encrypted messages and would rather block UK users than weaken privacy.

Mr Cathcart highlighted reasons why he would be happier to block UK users as being:

– 98 per cent of WhatsApp users are outside the UK anyway, and don’t want WhatsApp to lower the security of the product.

– WhatsApp has accepted being blocked in other parts of the world, e.g. Iran.

– Proposing government scanning of private messages could embolden other countries, with different definitions of illegal content, to propose the same thing, i.e. using WhatsApp as a government mass surveillance tool.

Support For WhatsApp 

Support for WhatsApp’s refusal to comply and threat to block has come from Signal president Meredith Whittaker who has suggested that blocking UK users would be the right response and that a “push back” is needed against the bill’s requirements in relation to secure apps.

Also, Dr Monica Horten of the Open Rights group had also highlighted the “potentially damaging consequences for privacy and free-expression rights” that giving the government the ability to scan private messages could bring.

Element, the U.K. startup behind the decentralised messaging E2EE Matrix protocol has also criticised the current draft of the Online Safety Bill as “an attack on encryption” and a proposal of “state surveillance and censorship” that’s reminiscent of “regimes in Russia and China” .

The UK Government 

The UK government is currently sticking to its stance on the bill and re-iterating that technology companies need do more to tackle online child abuse and stop giving paedophiles a way to continue their online activities in secret.

Other organisations, such as The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) have supported the idea that the Online Safety Bill could help protect children by making legal requirement for platforms to identify and disrupt child sexual abuse taking place on their platforms and sites. The NSPCC’s chairman has also said that “Experts have demonstrated that it’s possible to tackle child-abuse material and grooming in end-to-end encrypted environments.” 

UK Businesses Would Be Hit Hard By WhatsApp Blocking Them 

If WhatsApp were to block UK users, it could have a significant impact on UK businesses that rely on the platform for communication with their customers, suppliers, and employees. For example, some potential impacts include:

– Loss of communication with customers. Many UK businesses use WhatsApp as a key or primary means of communicating with their customers, e.g. messaging and groups. If WhatsApp were to block UK users, businesses would lose a key channel for engaging with their customers, potentially leading to a decline in sales and customer satisfaction.

– Disruption of supply chains. WhatsApp is also widely used by businesses to communicate with their suppliers and vendors. If WhatsApp were to block UK users, it could lead to disruptions in the supply chain, resulting in delays and increased costs for businesses.

– The need to find and increase reliance on alternative platforms (which may also come under the requirements of the bill). Businesses may need to find alternative platforms to communicate with their customers and suppliers, which could be time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, not all customers and suppliers may be on the same alternative platform, creating additional challenges for businesses to maintain their communication channels.

– Data privacy concerns. If WhatsApp were to block UK users, it could raise concerns about data privacy and the security of other popular communication platforms. Businesses may need to reassess their data privacy policies and take additional steps to ensure the security of their communication channels.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

WhatsApp’s privacy, provided by end-to-end encryption, is a much-valued aspect of the app, especially since so much sensitive personal and business data is shared on the app. Also, many UK businesses (and even UK government members in relation to the recent Matt Hancock message debacle) use WhatsApp daily as an important business tool, so blocking UK users could cause huge disruption and even have a negative effect on the UK economy at particularly precarious time. It is unlikely that anybody would disagree that tech companies need to do more to tackle online child abuse but the bill in its current form will doubtless create many other problems. Allowing governments to scan private messages may set a worrying precedent and embolden other countries with concerning regimes and motivations to call for similar measures as a means to conduct potentially dangerous mass surveillance. WhatsApp’s powerful indication that it is willing to ditch UK users rather than put the 98 per cent of its users who are outside of the UK at risk is a real possibility and businesses may now be looking at the UK government to take a better- informed look at the bill and enter into negotiations with WhatsApp to resolve the matter.

OpenAI has announced the general release of API access to ChatGPT and their ‘Whisper’, which is an automatic speech recognition (ASR) AI model.

What Does This Mean? 

An API is a set of protocols, routines, and tools for building software applications that specify how software components should interact with each other. In simpler terms, an API is a way for different software applications to communicate with each other and share data.

OpenAI is an AI research lab which has developed a number of powerful AI models, including the ChatGPT and Whisper models. Whisper is an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system that enables transcription in multiple languages, as well as translation from those languages into English.

By making the ChatGPT and Whisper models available on its API, OpenAI is allowing developers and other users to access these models and integrate them into their own applications.

What’s The Benefit Of This To Developers? 

This means that developers can now use these models to generate natural language text, perform language tasks such as text classification or sentiment analysis (and more), without having to build their own models from scratch. By providing access to these models through an API, OpenAI is making it easier for developers to create powerful AI applications that leverage the latest advances in AI technology using just a few lines of code to do so. With the ChatGPT and Whisper models available on its API, companies will find it more accessible and affordable to add AI capabilities to applications, and having access to Whisper will allow developers to add voice interfaces to a much wider set of applications.

Open AI says “Developers can now use our open-source Whisper large-v2 model in the API with much faster and cost-effective results. ChatGPT API users can expect continuous model improvements and the option to choose dedicated capacity for deeper control over the models.” 

Popular Apps Already Using  ChatGPT API 

Examples of some of the popular apps already using the ChatGPT API include Shop, and Shopify’s commerce app which uses it to improve the accuracy of in-app searches and personalised product suggestions for users.

Opportunity 

Some tech commentators have also highlighted how the general release of API access to these models could provide real commercial opportunities to (up until now) hobbyist developers. This could trigger a wave of new software development which could ultimately benefit many businesses in terms of added efficiency, cost and time savings.

Change To Data Retention Policy Could Help

The recent change to OpenAI’s data retention policy, whereby it will now only retain users’ data for 30 days and promises not to use data that input to train its models, could also provide the reassurance needed for more companies to try ChatGPT. This could further fuel the rise in software incorporating these powerful AI models.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For OpenAI, this API offering is another move towards the full monetisation of ChatGPT, which OpenAI needs to do in order to keep running its expensive AI models. Making ChatGPT (and Whisper) available on its API means greater opportunities for developers and companies to develop more powerful apps that utilise the cutting edge of AI in a relatively easy and affordable way. This could make the app market much more competitive, and we could see AI being used in many more areas of our lives. For businesses of all kinds, this could open the door to the introduction of value adding, efficiency-improving and cost saving apps that could improve competitiveness.