28/04/2021: Cybersecurity & Tech News Roundup

Are self-driving cars coming to a town near you?

The government has announced that autonomous vehicles could be permitted on UK roads by the end of this year. The Dept. for Transport plans to start proceedings by allowing automated lane-keeping systems to be used, giving drivers a hands-free experience while AI handles the speed and positioning of the vehicle. Could this be the beginning of a self-driving revolution? Read more here.

Google's parent company saw profits soar in early 2021

Alphabet - the tech giant that owns Google - saw its net profits reach new heights in the first quarter of this year, as lockdown restrictions continue to affect users worldwide. The company's earnings jumped up by 162% to $17.9 billion between January and March - crediting "elevated consumer activity online" for these amazing results. Users have been making use of Google Search and other Alphabet-owned digital services to stay connected, research from home, and entertain themselves - and more and more companies have turned to Google (and Google-owned Youtube) adverts in order to establish a presence online as their bricks and mortar stores have been forced to shut. Read more here.

The WDOH accidentally leaked 53 files containing Covid-19 test data

The Department of Health has recently announced that a slip up led to the exposure of over 50 patient files that consisted of Covid-19 and flu test data - plus one file with alcohol breath test results. As early as the beginning of November 2020, files had been exposed, but the WDOH just hadn't noticed. It wasn't until early March that the organisation realised that patient ID's, test results, DoBs, etc had been uploaded to a public GitHub repository by mistake. GitHub was only supposed to be used for software and code storage, but an employee accidentally uploaded patient info instead. Read more here.

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