In Other News

Alex Jones still gets to rants and other conspiracy theories being featured as it were the truth.

InfoWars app out of Google's Play Store: Alex Jones's right-wing conspiracy theories now have limited reach

YouTube, Twitter, Apple, Facebook and Instagram had banned Alex Jones from their platforms in 2018 and 2019

29 Mar 2020 2:43 PM

A picture shows a surveillance camera in an underground passage in Moscow on January 27, 2020. - A vast and contentious network of facial-recognition cameras keeping watch over Moscow is now playing a key role in slowing the rapid spread of coronavirus in Russia. (Photo | AFP)

Privacy could become the next victim of the coronavirus as governments step up mass surveillance

Authoritarian regimes such as China use COVID-19 as a pretext to suppress independent speech and restrict fundamental rights

29 Mar 2020 12:12 PM

In this Monday, Jan. 11, 2016 file photo the headquarters of Europol are seen in The Hague, Netherlands. Criminals have spotted a new business opportunity with the coronavirus pandemic and are now plundering the needy and the fearful and even disrupting the medical sector, online and off, with fraud, counterfeit products and cybercrime, a report issued Friday by the European law enforcement agency Europol says. (Photo | AP)

Common criminals now corona criminals: Fraudsters go online, preying on Europe's virus fears

Police around the world seized 34,000 counterfeit surgical masks in one major operation targeting so-called "corona criminals" this month

28 Mar 2020 4:55 PM

US President Donald Trump has fuelled racism against the Chinese by insisting on calling the novel coronavirus COVID-19 the Chinese virus, despite being told that Chinese American citizens were being subjected to hate speech and racism. (Photo | AFP)

Hate speech on Twitter toward Chinese surges amid concerns Trump's coronavirus comments fuelling xenophobia

A lot of people are using racist hashtags such as #Kungflu, #chinesevirus and #communistvirus as they tweet about the pandemic

28 Mar 2020 3:20 PM

In this representative image, commuters walk through ticket gates equipped with facial recognition systems at a metro station in Moscow on January 27, 2020. (Photo | AFP)

Microsoft to stop funding facial recognition startups, divests from firm whose tech is used by Israeli military

As a minority investor, Microsoft does not have enough oversight to ensure that the startup’s tech is not used for mass surveillance

28 Mar 2020 2:27 PM

Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall said in an email to customers Thursday that the company was banning terms such as “coronavirus,” “COVID” and “vaccine” from the company's domain availability search tool.

Phishing in coronavirus webspace: GoDaddy, NameCheap restrict COVID-19 websites to prevent cyberfraud

Recently the US ordered a site removed after it claimed to sell COVID-19 vaccine, whereas no such vaccine exists yet

27 Mar 2020 9:02 PM

It is recommended that you update your VPN, network infrastructure devices, and devices being used to remotely access work environments with the latest software patches and security configurations.

Home computers increasingly targeted by hackers: Use VPNs, take safety measures

Change passwords of your home Wi-Fi router to strong and unique ones on every account and device and use two-factor authentication

27 Mar 2020 7:06 PM

Photo shows a surveillance camera at a metro station in Moscow on January 27, 2020. A vast and contentious network of facial-recognition cameras keeping watch over Moscow is now being used in the effort to slow the rapid spread of coronavirus in Russia. (AFP)

Covid-19 crisis may leave us vulnerable to surveillance

Who is to stop governments from continuing to use surveillance technologies even after the pandemic is brought under control?

27 Mar 2020 6:16 PM

The 90-day free trial is open to new customers as well as those already on a 30-day trial. Their trial period will be extended to match this offer. (Representative Image)

Apple offers 90-day free trial on Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X video and audio editing software

Even if you’re just trying to learn a new skill, this offer is perfect; you can add a new skill to your CV at the end of the lockdown period

27 Mar 2020 2:11 PM

The covidvisualizer.com website lets you click on countries on a rotating globe, to display figures listed below that nation's flag.

Follow the spread of the coronavirus by country, state and district on these tracker websites

They feature interactive maps with figures corresponding to locations updated often — twice daily, in real time, and even every two minutes

26 Mar 2020 10:51 PM

Medical personnel stand outside a tent for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing in Hansen Dam Park on March 25, 2020 in Pacoima, California. (Photo | AFP)

COVID-19 home test kits developed by UK scientists give you results in 30 minutes

Each test costs as little as £4 or around Rs 350, while the testing devices themselves cost £100 or less than Rs 9,000.

26 Mar 2020 6:03 PM

The stopCOVID19.fr website allows sellers and healthcare facilities to create separate accounts.

An ‘eBay’ for COVID-19 essentials: France gets sellers together in centralised online market

Hand Sanitisers, masks, gloves produced by various companies will be sold on stopCOVID19.fr, which is backed by the French government

26 Mar 2020 2:34 PM

Last week, researchers joined the White House in an effort to make available some 29,000 coronavirus research articles that can be scanned for data mining. (Photo | Pixabay - Gerd Altmann)

AI could be key to containing pandemics like the novel coronavirus outbreak in the future

Several AI systems identified the first signs of the outbreak on December 30 but the extent of the severity of the disease was not known

26 Mar 2020 12:20 PM

A screengrab of a video on Isinnova's website shows how to fit its 3D printed Charlotte valve on to Decathlon snorkelling mask to repurpose it into an emergency respiratory mask. (Image | Isinnova.it)

Respiratory valves, other medical devices for coronavirus treatment could be 3D printed during shortage

Companies such as HP and Indian startups could use approved design files available online to supply urgently required medical implements

25 Mar 2020 7:34 PM

Kashmiri health workers talk to local residents during a contact-tracing drive after the first person in the region tested positive on March 19, 2020. (Representative Image | AP)

India could soon have its own CoWin-20 app for contact tracing of people infected with COVID-19

The beta version of the app is being tested by a small group of individuals, say reports

25 Mar 2020 5:46 PM

If you're safe, you won't be sorry. That's the mantra for a good work-from-home experience.

Take these 10 essential precautions if you're working from home

As the 21-day lockdown begins, here are tips to ensure your company’s data is protected and your work remains as professional as in office

25 Mar 2020 3:43 PM

The free and open-source prototype Private Kit app was developed by teams at MIT and Harvard as well as software engineers of Facebook and Uber who worked on it in their free time.

Join efforts to trace the coronavirus route map in your locality by downloading this app

The MIT prototype Private Kit: Safe Paths app works by sharing location data between users, without revealing who the users are.

23 Mar 2020 5:46 PM

Here is a snapshot of the website's home page which uses what appears to be a screengrab of television coverage on the pandemic and carrying a fraud message to fool gullible people.

Beware: No vaccine exists for coronavirus, but website claiming to sell it is active in India

The US has shutdown the website coronavirusmedicalkit.com and lawsuits have been filed it

23 Mar 2020 3:58 PM

The developers’ services will be offered free by Facebook to government health organisations and UN health agencies.

Facebook helps government, UN health organisations use Messenger effectively in coronavirus response

The social media giant has also invited developers to build messaging solutions for access to accurate information on the coronavirus

23 Mar 2020 2:38 PM

The IBM Summit at a national laboratory in the US has already been working on a project to create a potential drug for the coronavirus COVID-19

IBM, Amazon, Google in US consortium using 16 supercomputers for coronavirus research

Researchers working on projects chosen by the consortium will be given remote access to the supercomputers for drug and vaccine research

23 Mar 2020 1:10 PM