Take action against trollers of Hanan: Kerala CMO

Agencies
July 27, 2018

Thrissur, Jul 27: The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) of Kerala on Friday directed the State Police to take action against those who allegedly posted insulting comments on social media platforms against a 21-year-old-girl Hanan Hamid, who was trolled for selling fish to meet her needs.

The CMO has also directed the District Collector to give protection to Hanan.

Union Minister of State KJ Alphons has also extended his support to Hanan. Alphons posted on Facebook: Kerala sharks stop attacking #Hanan. I'm ashamed. Here is a girl trying to put together a shattered life. You vultures!"

Hanan, a native of Kerala's Thrissur, is the latest victim of cyberbullying. Since past few days she is apparently receiving a lot of flak after a video clip of her selling fish went viral on social media.

Hanan, a BSc in Chemistry student, lives with her mother and brother in a rented house. She sells fish after her college hours.

This college girl has become a fish seller out of necessity. She sells fish in the busy Thammanam junction in the city to meet the household expenses and college fees besides study material.

Hanan follows a daily routine. She wakes up at 3 a.m. Then she goes to Chambakkara riding her bicycle in the wee hours to buy fishes. After that she returns to a place in Thammanam junction to stock the fishes. Back from the college, she comes to Thammanam again and starts selling fishes.

Hanan's story was broadly shared on social media platforms by users, which included film artistes and politicians too. But, like always a section of viewers has raised questions on the authenticity of her story, and called it "fake" or a "publicity stunt".

A filmmaker, Arun Gopy, reportedly saw the video clip and offered her a role in a forthcoming film. Since then a twist in the tale has taken place. Viewers of the video clip on social media started trolling her and started a malicious campaign by accusing her of trying to promote the film.

A section of people on social media has also accused her of trying to make money by giving her bank account number through the media.

After receiving so much criticism, Hanan with teary eyes responded to the allegations and said, "People are making false allegations that it was for promotion of a movie. I am not a fraud. I have no other income. My main aim is to continue studies and support the family.

Hanan further said that she is ready to pay back the amount credited in her account. She further requested people not to torture her mentally and also not to send her any money.

Hanan also refuted claims of her working on a film.

Yesterday, Hanan arrived at her regular spot at Thammanam junction to continue her job of selling fishes but as ousted by the police as crowd thronged the area to catch a glimpse of Hanan.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Consumer watchdog Which? has claimed that more than one billion Android phones and tablets are vulnerable to hackers as they no longer supported by security updates.

According to the research report, the most at-risk phones are any that run Android 4 or older and those smartphones running Android 7.0 which can not be updated are also at risk.

Based on data from Google analysed by Which?, two in five android device users around the world are no longer receiving the important updates. Currently, those devices are unlikely to have issues, but the lack of security leaves them open to attack.

"It is very concerning that expensive Android devices have such a short shelf life before they lose security support, leaving millions of users at risk of serious consequences if they fall victim to hackers," Kate Bevan editor Which? said in a statement.

"Google and phone manufacturers need to be upfront about security updates with clear information about how long they will last and what customers should do when they run out. The government must also push ahead with planned legislation to ensure manufacturers are far more transparent about security updates for smart devices and their impact on consumers," Kate added.

Android phone released around 2012 or earlier, including popular models like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Sony Xperia S, are particularly at risk to hackers.

Which? has made suggestions to Android users on what to consider if they have an older phone that may be at risk.

Any Android device which is more than two years old, check whether it can be updated to a newer version of the operating system. If it is on an earlier version than Android 7.0 Nougat, try to update via Settings> System>Advanced System update.

In case a user is not able tto update the phone, the device could be at risk of being hacked if it is running a version of Android 4 or lower.

A user also need to be careful about downloading apps outside the Google Play store and should also install a mobile anti-virus via an app.

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Agencies
June 9,2020

New Zealand's research institute in Antarctica is scaling back the number of projects planned for the upcoming season, in an effort to keep the continent free of coronavirus, it was reported on Tuesday.

The government agency, Antarctica New Zealand, told the BBC on Tuesday that it was dropping 23 of the 36 research projects.

Only long-term science monitoring, essential operational activity and planned maintenance will go ahead.

The upcoming research season runs from October to March.

"As COVID-19 sweeps the planet, only one continent remains untouched and (we) are focused on keeping it that way," Antarctica New Zealand told the BBC.

The organisation's chief executive Sarah Williamson said the travel limits and a strict managed isolation plan were the key factors for keeping Scott Base - New Zealand's research facility - virus free.

"Antarctica New Zealand is committed to maintaining and enhancing the quality of New Zealand's Antarctic scientific research. However, current circumstances dictate that our ability to support science is extremely limited this season" she said.

Earlier in April, Australia announced that it would scale back its activity in the 2020-21 summer season.

This included decreasing operational capacity and delaying work on some major projects.

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Google has indexed invite links to private WhatsApp group chats, meaning anyone can join various private chat groups (including several porn-sharing groups) with a simple search.

According to a report in Motherboard, invitations to WhatsApp group chats were being indexed by Google.

The team found private groups using specific Google searches and even joined a group intended for NGOs accredited by the UN and had access to all the participants and their phone numbers.

Journalist Jordan Wildon said on Twitter that he discovered that WhatsApp's "Invite to Group Link" feature lets Google index groups, making them available across the internet since the links are being shared outside of WhatsApp's secure private messaging service.

"Your WhatsApp groups may not be as secure as you think they are," Wildon tweeted on Friday, adding that using particular Google searches, people can discover links to the chats.

According to app reverse-engineer Jane Wong, Google has around 470,000 results for a simple search of "chat.whatsapp.com", part of the URL that makes up invites to WhatsApp groups.

WhatsApp spokesperson Alison Bonny said: "Like all content that is shared in searchable public channels, invite links that are posted publicly on the internet can be found by other WhatsApp users."

"The links that users wish to share privately with people they know and trust should not be posted on a publicly accessible website," Bonny told The Verge.

Danny Sullivan, Google's public search liaison, tweeted: "Search engines like Google & others list pages from the open web. That's what's happening here. It's no different than any case where a site allows URLs to be publicly listed. We do offer tools allowing sites to block content being listed in our results."

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