The continued surge in hybrid work, bring your own device (BYOD) and contractor reliance has undeniably made businesses more agile and flexible, but it has also introduced a wave of unmanaged devices into enterprise environments that frequently lack security controls, creating exposure to data loss and regulatory risk. To mitigate these issues, Cato Networks has launched Browser Extension, what it calls “a lightweight onramp” to the company’s core secure access service edge (SASE) platform.

Cato cited Verizon’s Data breach incident report, which this year found that 46% of compromised systems containing corporate credentials were unmanaged devices. At the same time, compliance pressures under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) were continuing to mount. Until now, said Cato, protecting these endpoints meant deploying software IT couldn’t control or forcing users onto enterprise browsers, and that unmanaged devices create risk and compliance pressure for IT leaders.

“Unmanaged and BYOD devices aren’t going away,” said Ofir Agasi, chief product officer at Cato Networks. “They remain the weakest links in enterprise security. Without the safeguards of managed devices, they expose organisations to additional risk.”

Cato also noted that legacy zero trust network access (ZTNA) approaches often require separate tools for different device types. Extending access to unmanaged devices has meant installing new software, such as specialised browsers. The result, said the company, was disruption of the user experience and additional strain on IT operations. 

To address these challenges, Cato has made zero trust for unmanaged devices easy to deploy and simple to maintain. The extension expands Cato’s Universal ZTNA to unmanaged devices – including personal, contractor and BYOD endpoints – without the operational overhead, deployment complexity or user disruption that can come with legacy VPNs or enterprise browsers. It’s designed to simplify secure contractor and BYOD access, unifying zero trust policy management enterprise-wide.

The Cato Browser Extension is a native Google Chrome extension claimed to be able to provide secure access in minutes without requiring client installations or new software. It enforces the same ZTNA policies already applied across the enterprise, so IT doesn’t need to create or manage new rules. And unlike enterprise browsers that force users to adopt a new interface, the extension works natively with standard browsers under one consistent, enterprise-wide ZTNA model. 

With Cato ZTNA, enterprises can unify access across every environment: managed devices connect via the Cato Client, unmanaged devices through the Cato Browser Extension, and sites and branches with a Cato Socket. Every connection is said to be protected by Cato SSE 360 – including Firewall as a Service, Secure Web Gateway, Cloud Access Security Broker, Next Generation Firewall, Data Loss Prevention and Advanced Threat Prevention – ensuring continuous inspection, unified logging and centralised policy enforcement. All platform onramps are said to be unified under one policy model.

With these features, Cato assured that enterprises gain clear strategic advantages in terms of consistent security posture, operational simplicity and audit readiness. That is, businesses can have unified, identity-aware policies across all devices to close security gaps and remove VPNs, enterprise browsers, and point solutions, reducing onboarding time and IT overhead. It also said that firms can simplify audits and meet GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS requirements with consistent enforcement.

In short, Cato believes Browser Extension restores IT control, giving users secure network access while enabling ZTNA for everyone on any device. “The Cato Browser Extension provides customers with the best of both worlds: simple access for users, and complete policy control for IT without adding another tool to manage,” added Agasi.

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North Wales Police (NWP) has worked with D-Wave on a proof-of-concept hybrid quantum computing application to optimise the placement of police vehicles for emergency response.

The pair reported that the hybrid quantum approach was able to deliver faster, more accurate and more efficient emergency response, allowing NWP to reduce the average incident response time by nearly 50%.

Hybrid quantum computing works like an accelerator, combining the capabilities of quantum computers to solve complex problems with classical computing’s strength in processing logic operations sequentially at scale.

According to D-Wave, the challenge with using classical optimisation technology is that NWP officers need to cover large geographies under difficult constraints and dynamic variables. These include ambitious response-time targets, limited staffing, demanding operational duties, and ever-shifting deployment needs driven by factors such as crime patterns, public events and emergencies.

It is a variation of the travelling salesman problem, which attempts to find the fastest route for a salesman to visit a large number of cities. This is often cited as a task that can be optimised by quantum computing.

But the pilot also takes in other factors, which suggests NWP is also applying predictive analytics to optimise placement of police vehicles – technology that some industry watchers fear can lead to bias and unwarranted profiling of individuals and communities.

Working with D-Wave, NWP tested the use of hybrid quantum computing for “forward deployment”, where officers are placed strategically in high-risk areas to enable faster response times, enhance visibility and deter crime.

D-Wave said the application, which uses a hybrid quantum solver available through D-Wave’s Leap quantum cloud service, outperformed NWP’s classical approach to optimisation by reducing police vehicle coordination time from four months to four minutes, significantly improving real-time adaptability. The test also demonstrated that NWP could respond to at least 90% of incidents within its target response time using the hybrid quantum application.

“Optimising forward deployment is a challenge for most police forces,” said Alistair Hughes, lead for analytics and artificial intelligence at North Wales Police. “A reduction in response time can reduce crime, reduce offence escalation and increase public confidence. We believe D-Wave’s hybrid quantum application could be scaled nationally to save time, reduce costs, improve outcomes and lower our carbon footprint.”

The proof-of-technology project was supported by a grant from the Test and Learn Fund that NWP secured from the UK policing national science and innovation board. Following the successful project, the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser for Policing recognised it to be of national cross-government departmental interest, with opportunities for future development and deployment. The project highlights the importance and value of cross-border collaboration.

“As police forces increasingly rely on data-driven strategies to improve response times and coverage, hybrid quantum computing can offer the speed, precision and intelligence needed to identify optimal officer placements and enhance public safety,” said Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave.

“Hybrid quantum computing is beginning to show real-world potential across private and public sectors, and we’re thrilled to see the potential for it to make a meaningful impact in forward deployment with North Wales Police,” he added.

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As businesses tackle skills shortages and global competition for top talent intensifies, UK immigration policies must do more to actively welcome and retain the world’s best professionals.

Yet the current rhetoric and policy landscape send mixed signals. While the UK government has introduced initiatives to attract skilled workers, entrepreneurs and innovators, high costs and a sometimes unwelcoming tone risk undermining these efforts. For the UK to remain a top destination for global talent, immigration must align more closely with business needs, making the process efficient and genuinely welcoming.

Economic reality and immigration needs 

According to the Tech Nation Unlocking the UK growth potential report 2025, one in three UK founders say availability of top talent is their biggest barrier to growth. In the same report, one in two founders say improving immigration and visa processes would best support their talent needs.

The recent strategic partnership between the US and UK to deliver Europe’s largest AI factory is an ambitious move that underlines the country’s commitment to technological innovation and economic growth. 

Access to talent will play a vital role in supporting such large-scale initiatives. Immigration significantly contributes to addressing labour shortages, especially in industries where domestic talent is either scarce or lacks the necessary expertise. When domestic workers cannot fill vacancies and training initiatives will not fill gaps quickly enough, skilled foreign workers are needed to bridge these gaps and meet business needs.

In the UK, immigration also serves as a significant direct source of revenue for the state. Migrants staying in the UK for six months or more must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, a fee of around £1,035 per adult applicant per year, intended as a contribution to the NHS. Employers also pay an additional Immigration Skills Charge (ISC), usually £1000 per year of sponsorship, which is expected to rise by 32% this autumn. According to the Office for National Statistics, in Q1 and Q2 2025 alone, the ISC contributed approximately £251 million in revenue to the state.

Current immigration pathways  

To attract top global talent, the government has introduced a range of visa options designed to bring the best and brightest from around the world. The Global Talent visa attracts global leaders in their respective fields. Recognising the strategic economic importance of attracting the world’s best talent, the Prime Minister’s global talent taskforce is reportedly examining proposals to abolish some visa fees for foreign academics and digital experts relocating to the UK. However, this may not help talent pipelines where applicants cannot meet the high bar for the category.

The High Potential Individual visa  is aimed at attracting top international talent to the UK, but is limited to graduates from top-ranked university. Other options include the Graduate visa and Youth Mobility Scheme which allow international students and young people to gain valuable UK experience, building a pipeline of future talent, but both have limitations.

Salary threshold concessions exist for young people and recent graduates under the sponsorship routes. Currently, experienced hire applicants for Skilled Worker visa must receive the higher of £41,700 per annum or the going occupational rate. A new entrant discount means those who qualify must instead meet a lower salary requirement: the higher of £33,400 per annum or 70% of the going rate. 

Challenges and gaps  

Whilst concessions exist for new entrants, Skilled worker salary thresholds remain problematic. After four years, a new entrant must meet the full salary threshold, potentially a 30% pay rise over four years (or two years if time was previously spent on a graduate visa). Salary thresholds are calculated based on the median salary expectation for the role rather than considering the earnings differential of those with five or 20 years of experience, and they do not account for regional salary variation. Concerns exist not only about meeting salaries in the initial application but also about the ability to continue sponsorship at extension.

While work sponsorship follows a clear points-based system, constantly increasing salary thresholds, rising fees and uncertainty over settlement policy reduce the UK’s attractiveness to businesses and individuals looking to establish not only a career, but also a home life. 

Looking ahead 

The UK’s success in attracting and retaining global talent will depend on its ability to balance immigration policy with a business-friendly approach. The goal should be to make the UK not just a place where the world’s top talent want to come, but where they choose to stay, build their career and contribute to a shared future.

Kinka Tonchev is a senior manager at the global immigration law firm Fragomen. 

 

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People were always aware that things like physical features and biological quirks tended to run in families, but no one ever really knew why. The 1940s marked a turning point when scientists finally figured out that it was deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Over the following years, they discovered things like the twisted ladder construction, which allows DNA to replicate itself. In 1985, Kary B. Mullis invented the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method, which gave scientists the ability to make millions of sequence copies in just a few hours. This meant they could turn something like a solitary strand of hair into a treasure trove of genetic information in no time.

By the ’90s, we had the Human Genome Project. This worldwide scientific crusade aimed to decode every one of humanity’s 3 billion genetic letters. It took well over a decade and cost about a dollar for every letter, but it was a huge success — and it gave us the first-ever complete blueprint of our species. The technological revolution that followed was nothing less than extraordinary. Cutting-edge sequencing technology slashed costs and timeframes to the point where we can now do the same job for less than a few hundred dollars in a matter of hours. 

Add in recent breakthroughs, like the sequencing of 50,000-year-old DNA, using AI to recreate a face from DNA analysis, or uncovering that humans evolved from two distinct populations in a shocking twist to the story of human evolution, and you can see how powerful the technology has become. Now that scientists are armed with these revolutionary genetic tools, they are unraveling centuries-old mysteries and transforming our understanding of historical figures. From monarchs found in baffling places to legendary singers whose stories are being rewritten, here are a few famous historical figures —  and the secrets revealed by their DNA.

Richard III

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In 2012, the Richard III Society suspected the remains of their beloved medieval king were buried under a parking lot in the city of Leicester, England. After just a few hours of excavating, the archaeological team assigned to the task struck historical gold when they discovered human remains exactly where he was thought to be. A DNA test later confirmed the bones to be those of England’s last monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty, who sat on the throne for just two years, from 1483 to 1485. The Plantagenet dynasty ruled across 14 monarchs from 1154 until the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, where Richard III met his and the dynasty’s end. He was buried at Greyfriars Abbey in Leicester, the site of which eventually became the municipal parking lot in question.

Analysis of the DNA revealed things like eye and hair color, as well as a spinal curvature that matched historical accounts. However, tests also revealed something far more significant: the absence of the royal Y chromosome that should have been inherited through his paternal line. This suggests that at least one child in the family lineage was fathered by someone outside the royal bloodline, raising the possibility that not all the monarchs who came after were of true biological descent. However, today’s royal family is unaffected by this discovery because in 1701, the Act of Settlement was passed, granting Parliament control over royal succession after deciding that only Protestants could become rulers. This created an entirely new royal dynasty from Germany called the House of Hanover, from which today’s royals are descended.

Beethoven

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Ludwig van Beethoven’s revolutionary compositions and groundbreaking techniques ensure he is and will always be remembered as one of the most influential figures in classical music. He is also widely known for his progressive hearing loss. Medical experts and historians have long theorized that he also suffered from ongoing digestive problems and liver ailments that may have been worsened by alcohol. Scientists recently tested several locks of the German genius’ 200-year-old hair to create a comprehensive genetic portrait. The tests revealed that he did carry a gene variant linked to hemochromatosis, a disorder affecting iron levels that increases liver damage risk, especially when combined with alcohol.

However, researchers also found a surprise in the form of traces of hepatitis B, an infection that likely aggravated his liver problems even more. This would have almost certainly made his final months seriously uncomfortable. The analysis also ruled out celiac disease and lactose intolerance as culprits for his digestive troubles, and failed to pinpoint a genetic explanation for his deafness. However, comparing Beethoven’s Y chromosome with those of five living male descendants revealed a misalignment in their genetic signatures, indicating a break in the composer’s family tree. This called into question his accepted family history and points to infidelity within his father’s ancestral line.

Tsar Nicholas II

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Tsar Nicholas II ruled the Russian Empire from 1894 until his abdication in 1917. After failed reforms, massacres, and crushing military defeats, the Bolshevik uprising led to the end of the Romanov dynasty after more than 300 years of rule. Following the abdication, the former tsar and his family were put under house arrest. In the summer of that year, Bolshevik forces brutally executed the entire family and then repeatedly buried and reburied their remains to conceal the evidence. However, rumors persisted for decades that Anastasia, the tsar’s youngest daughter, somehow survived the massacre, including rumors generated by Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the duchess.

When a mass grave was found near Yekaterinburg in 1991, investigators could not immediately prove it contained the Romanov family, partly because the Bolsheviks had burned and repeatedly moved the remains. To establish the maternal line, they used a blood sample from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a direct descendant of Tsarina Alexandra’s sister. The resulting DNA match proved the bones belonged to the family. To put the matter beyond all doubt, scientists also dug up the remains of Nicholas II’s father, Alexander III, for final confirmation. The results were irrefutable, ending years of rumor and speculation, including the false claims of Anna Anderson.

Tutankhamun

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After initial disappointment when testing Tutankhamun’s mummified remains, scientists eventually managed to extract some usable DNA, and the results were fascinating. The DNA results suggest that Tutankhamun’s grandparents were Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, and the mummified remains of non-royal aristocrats Yuya and Thuya as his great-grandparents. However, the biggest reveal was that his father could very well be the religious revolutionary Pharaoh Akhenaten, whom researchers have long thought rested in the Valley of Kings, but could never put a name to the remains. Tests also revealed his mother could be another unknown mummy entombed in the same necropolis and identified as a daughter of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye.

However, this leads to a scandal fit for ancient tablet gossip columns. If the analysis is correct, it confirms King Tut was born from an incestuous relationship, as the unknown parents were both the offspring of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye. The plot twists didn’t end there either. CT scans revealed that King Tut had physical deformities in his legs and feet, which could explain why 130 or so walking sticks were found in his tomb. Some believe this might be why he is depicted as sitting down on shrine reliefs while hunting and performing archery.

Thomas Jefferson

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Two centuries of whispered accusations have shadowed Thomas Jefferson. They allege the nation’s third president and chief architect of the Declaration of Independence conducted a clandestine relationship with, and fathered the children of, Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman on his Monticello plantation. In 1998, a retired UVA pathologist named Dr. Eugene Foster led the first DNA investigation into unlocking the genetic truth. DNA from the former president himself wasn’t used because his descendants opposed exhuming his remains. So, samples were extracted from his various family members instead. Among the relatives were descendants of Jefferson’s paternal uncle, Sally Hemings’ children, and three of Jefferson’s nephews, who were also suspected of fathering the children.

The results showed a perfect Y chromosome match between the Jefferson lineage and Hemings’ last child, Eston. However, because the Y chromosome is usually common to every male in a family lineage, the test couldn’t single out the former president himself. Jefferson’s brother, Randolph, lived only 20 miles away, and Randolph’s sons were of an age where they could also have fathered children. However, Jefferson’s documented travels and the timings of the births show him to be at Monticello during each conception window. Statistical modeling delivers a damning verdict on this, showing only a 1% probability that Thomas Jefferson was not the father.

Jesse James

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The story goes that in 1882, Robert Ford, a member of Jesse James’ gang, shot the infamous outlaw after secretly arranging to claim the state reward for his capture. Yet for decades, rumors persisted that James had faked his own death by having Ford kill another man instead. Those doubts grew louder in 1948 when a man named J. Frank Dalton publicly claimed he was Jesse James. However, in 1978, two teeth and two hairs were removed from the gunslinger’s alleged grave in Missouri, possibly in the hope that future science might make use of them and solve the mystery.

By the mid-1990s, DNA profiling had been developed, and in 1995, Missouri staged a high-profile exhumation to resolve the controversy. However, the bones turned out to be too degraded for DNA testing, which would have limited the evidence. But the ceremony itself gave cover for scientists to use the preserved 1978 teeth and hair, which were subject to authenticity concerns because they weren’t collected under controlled scientific practices. As it turned out, those samples matched the DNA of maternal-line relatives, which strongly supports the claim that the man buried in Missouri really is Jesse James.

Elvis Presley

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While the samples used have not been proven beyond doubt to be those of Elvis Presley, genetic analysis of hair allegedly belonging to the King of Rock and Roll reveals a series of defects lurking in his DNA. Among the quirks identified were genetic tendencies toward his known issues like migraines, glaucoma, and weight problems, which add credibility to the likelihood that the hair really did belong to Elvis. Crucially, a chromosome 11 variant associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was also found, which is a potentially fatal heart condition that may have played a part in the legendary singer’s tragic passing in 1977.

The media had long pointed the finger at the singer’s legendary appetite and drug dependency for his death, but this genetic evidence unveils a deeper story of biological vulnerability. Nobody is saying Elvis didn’t live a life of excess, but these revelations show that his genes may have also been working against him. And given that scientists now realize much of our so-called “junk DNA” plays a vital role in gene control, which can have major impacts on health, the genetic picture may be even more complicated than we think.

Chief Sitting Bull

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Chief Sitting Bull was the Hunkpapa Lakota leader who successfully united Plains tribes and orchestrated General Custer’s crushing defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Over a century later, his great-grandson Ernie LaPointe began seeking recognition of his lineage to the legendary leader so he could legitimately represent the chief’s legacy and have a say in how his remains and memory should be treated. Historical documentation, such as birth certificates, death records, and genealogical trees, already showed LaPointe’s ancestral truth, but he sought DNA analysis for scientific validation.

After 14 painstaking years, scientists finally managed to extract usable DNA from a severely degraded lock of Sitting Bull’s hair that was preserved in the vaults of the Smithsonian. The genetic comparison between the ancient lock and DNA from Ernie LaPointe and his sisters confirmed the relationship. It was a landmark breakthrough, as it marked the first successful confirmation of an ancestral link between a living individual and a historic figure using severely limited and degraded DNA fragments.

This breakthrough demonstrates a wider truth about the power of genetic analysis. Even outside of human history, recent work sequencing earthworm DNA has challenged what we know about evolution. It reminds us that every strand of DNA, whether from a great chief or a humble worm, has the power to reshape the story of life itself.

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Online e-commerce platform eBay has started working with OpenAI to offer sellers on its website 12 months’ free access to ChatGPT Enterprise and custom eBay-developed GPT productivity tools.

Open from today, the eBay AI Activate training programme, worth over £3m, aims to skill up small UK businesses with fully funded access to the latest custom artificial intelligence (AI) productivity tools and training. The programme is open to all businesses that sell on eBay. The company aims to sign up 10,000 firms this year.

The programme aims to provide eBay sellers with access to ChatGPT Enterprise for up to 12 months, in addition to tailored training to help unlock its potential. The company said it will also provide dedicated support by working with sellers to develop custom GPTs to grow their business on the e-commerce platform.

According to eBay, there is a strong appetite for using AI among UK small businesses, but there is also a need for assistance in applying it to achieve business impact. 

Eve Williams, general manager at eBay UK, said: “The issue is no longer whether businesses should adopt AI; it is how quickly they can start before their competitors do. Those businesses and economies that don’t invest in AI now risk being left behind.”

Data from eBay shows that 69% of online businesses feel excited (43%) or curious (26%) about the potential of artificial intelligence, but many are still working out how to make the best use of the technology.

Discussing the opportunity, Ronnie Chatterji, chief economist at OpenAI, said: “Small businesses power the UK economy, accounting for over 99% of the UK’s firms. Yet for too long, they have not had the tools to drive increases in productivity the way larger firms do. This collaboration could change that. By putting world-class AI tools in the hands of 10,000 UK entrepreneurs, we’re investing in the UK’s economic engine. If we want to close the productivity gap, this is where to start.”

By putting world-class AI tools in the hands of 10,000 UK entrepreneurs, we’re investing in the UK’s economic engine. If we want to close the productivity gap, this is where to start Ronnie Chatterji, OpenAI

The International Monetary Fund has forecast that broader AI adoption could add as much as £470bn to GDP by 2035.

The minister for small business and economic transformation, Blair McDougall, said: “Increasing SME growth by just 1% per year could deliver a whopping £320bn to the economy by 2030, which is why programmes like this are so important to our Plan for Change.

“Our Small Business Strategy is giving SMEs the tools they need. This includes acting on the recommendations of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce, launching new digital adoption pilots, and partnering with wider industry to provide support like this initiative from eBay and OpenAI.”

The launch of eBay AI Activate is part of a broader AI focus at eBay. The company has deployed ChatGPT Enterprise globally to enhance team creativity, exploration and productivity.

“AI is reshaping e-commerce and eBay is all-in. We see this as a generational opportunity to reimagine buying and selling for our customers, powered by three decades of marketplace insights and cutting-edge models,” said Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov, chief AI officer at eBay.

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Starlink from SpaceX provides high-speed, low-latency internet to areas of the world that otherwise would have no connection opportunities, thanks to a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites. It also makes internet access more accessible and affordable: The Starlink Mini starts at $80 per month for home internet, and $50 per month while traveling. 

Many Starlink Mini users say it’s worth it, especially in rural areas, despite Starlink alienating some customers by doing away with its free “pause” service feature. While it works on a piecemeal basis, from home to home, user to user, it may not be ideal for national use according to an X-Lab analysis. In fact, one report claims that Starlink can only support 6.66 households per square mile before the usable speeds fall below FCC broadband minimums.

While figuring out the math in its Starlink Capacity Analysis report, the X-Labs team found that a large density of users in a given area would “saturate the network” so much, that Starlink would be unable to deliver a minimal upload speed threshold that meets the FCC’s definition of a “broadband” service. If that were the case, which seems likely, the platform would consistently fail to meet the NTIA’s minimum performance requirements; which is necessary to secure funding from federal grant initiatives like the BEAD program (which Starlink is aiming to do). That also means Starlink could fail if adopted nationally, because it’s unable to provide the necessary speeds and connections, without factoring in potential finance issues.

More than meets the eye

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According to the X-Labs report, as of June 2025, an alarming 17% of users currently experience speeds that meet the FCC “broadband” definition. While that’s relatively low, altered BEAD program rules would still allow Starlink to benefit from federal funds as a low-cost internet option. The NTIA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) program must take the lowest qualified bid, and can only consider alternatives if the next highest bid is priced within 15% of the lowest. There are concerns Starlink could take that lowest bid slot, with other options not being allowed for consideration because they’re not within the 15% threshold.

The potential strain of adopting the service at a national level and bringing on thousands of more customers could negatively impact network performance and experiences. That would be a shame for customers in rural or remote areas who are finally able to experience faster speeds and reliable connections and, frankly, need Starlink to stay connected because there are no other viable local options. 

Features like Starlink’s Bypass Mode make it excellent in areas where traditional broadband is unreliable or nonexistent. Despite the benefits of Starlink’s international connectivity, the network has never been fast enough to meet the FCC’s “broadband” definition; which is currently 100 megabits per second for download speeds, 20 megabits per second upload, with a latency below 100 milliseconds.

A brief review of the X-Labs math

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As established in the analysis, the X-Labs team explores the potential upload and performance capacities of Starlink using the following data: A maximum of 419 Broadband Service Locations (BSLs) per beam, with a coverage area of 62.9 square miles.

• Number of BSLs / Beam Coverage Area = Maximum BSLs per Square Mile
• 419 / 62.9 = 6.66 BSLs per square mile

In case you’re not familiar with these terms: BSLs or Broadband Service Locations refers to a single active user or customer, while a beam refers to the total area on the ground that a single satellite radio frequency beam can cover. Together, these indicators tell us how effective and reliable a satellite internet service like Starlink is, while also providing a measurable capacity rating. 

In short, if the math holds up, which it seems to do, then Starlink is not yet capable of providing widespread broadband service at a national level. It will not be able to keep up with the demand or bandwidth requirements, and it won’t meet FCC definitions, at least not without some changes. If you have $1.25 million upfront and $75,000 per month lying around, you can always use Starlink Community Gateways with 10Gbps speeds, which is downright impressive.

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European proposals to require technology companies to scan the contents of communications sent through encrypted email and messaging services pose an “existential catastrophic risk”, it was claimed last night.

Encrypted messaging service Signal, which is widely used by governments, businesses and the public to send secure messaging services, warned that passing new legislation “negates the very purpose of encryption”.

The European Council is due to vote on Danish proposals on 14 October to mandate emailing and messaging services to install machine learning and scanning technology on mobile phones and computers to identify and report suspected child abuse images.

European Union (EU) member states are divided on the scheme, dubbed Chat Control, which has been widely criticised by cryptographers and security researchers who claim that mandatory scanning would create security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers and hostile nation states.

Signal’s vice-president for global affairs, Udbhav Tiwari, said that if the proposals became law they would introduce “massive glaring vulnerabilities” into operating systems used on phones and computers.

“Malicious actors will start using this capability to gain access that would simply be unthinkable for them under the current security paradigms of how operating systems have been implemented,” he said.

Under the Danish proposals, technology companies would be required to introduce client-side scanning technologies that will use hash functions to identify known abuse images and machine learning algorithms to identify unknown images. One way to enforce it would be to require software companies to introduce scanning capabilities in widely used operating systems, such as Windows, Apple’s MacOS and iOS, and Google’s Android.

Security vulnerabilities

Tiwari, speaking in an online-discussion, said that law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Europe have pressed for government devices to be exempt from mandatory scanning to protect the security of government data from security vulnerabilities.

“You can imagine, if an intelligence agency wants to make sure that its servers and services don’t have this technology, the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company probably doesn’t want its C suite to be susceptible to the same risks,” he added.

Critics say that Chat Control would be expensive to implement, as it would require EU countries to deploy thousands of law enforcement officers to manually review images that had been identified as suspect by scanning algorithms that are prone to produce false positives or false negatives.

The proposals are likely to face legal challenges if they are enacted, said Asha Allen, secretary general for the Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe.

She said the European Council’s own lawyers had raised reservations about the lawfulness of the proposals.

The European Court of Human Rights, for example, found that in the case of Podchasov v Russia that attempts to weaken encryption or create “backdoors” are in breach of privacy rights.

The Chat Control proposals are “inherently disproportionate” as they would “require scanning private messages and content of users who have no allegations or suspicions or wrongdoing against them”, said Allen.

They are also likely to breach General Data Protection Regulation data protection regulations, which require people to give their “informed consent” before their private messages are scanned.

Those that refuse will not have full access to encrypted messaging or email services, in what Allen said amounts to “coercive consent” and a breach of data protection law.

Critics say that Europe may ultimately need to make it unlawful for people to use techniques that could bypass client-side scanning if the measures become law, by, for example, making it illegal to modify operating systems that contain client-side scanning software, and banning the use of virtual private networks.

Tiwari said that criminals and bad actors would find ways to circumvent Chat Control, but that people who want to use encryption for legitimate purposes would lose their privacy.

Top computer and security experts warned in a scientific paper that now-abandoned plans by Apple to introduce client-side scanning in 2021 were unworkable, prone to abuse by criminals, and a threat to safety and security.

EU member states are divided on the Chat Control proposals, with 12 in favour, including France, Denmark and Spain. The Netherlands, Finland and Poland are among six countries opposing. The eight undecided states include Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Greece.

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The US Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015 has expired with no replacement or extension in place amid a chaotic shutdown of the federal government, leaving cyber pros in legal limbo and putting global collaboration on threat intelligence at risk of stalling.

The shutdown took effect at the stroke of midnight on 1 October after late-night attempts to get a Continuing Resolution – which would have funded the US government for a few more weeks – failed to get through a deeply-divided Congress.

The Continuing Resolution would have included an extension to CISA 2015 to give politicians sufficient time to finalise its proposed replacement, the Widespread Information Management for the Welfare of Infrastructure and Government (Wimwig) Act. 

The Wimwig legislation was designed to replace CISA 2015 – not to be confused with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which takes the same abbreviation.

As previously reported by Computer Weekly, Wimwig advanced through the House Homeland Security Committee at the beginning of September. However, with just a few short weeks until the looming shutdown, and political differences still to be resolved, getting it onto the statute books in time was always going to be a tall order.

Nevertheless, Kyle Dewar, executive client advisor, federal at Tanium, an endpoint and cloud workload security specialist, said that there were positive signs that politicians on both sides of America’s political divide agreed on the need to extend or replace it.

“You can tell how important an issue is by its lateral movement across legislative actions,” he said. “What impressed me about the urgency was that they did include the provision to extend CISA 2015 in the Continuing Resolution options.

“That conveys an acceptance across the political landscape that this is important, even though there may be disagreement…. If it wasn’t important they would just let it lapse. To me it does indicate the significance of extending CISA 2015.”

Cynthia Kaiser, a former FBI cyber leader who now works as senior vice president at cyber company Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center, said she hoped that the renewal of CISA 2015 – regardless of the name change – would be part of any future bill to reopen the American government.

She said there may even be an upside to the delay, as Congress could take additional steps to make more common sense edits, ranging from clarifying the law’s liability and privilege protections, to better protecting the civil liberties of individuals whose data may be shared under its auspices.

Kaiser also said more clarity was needed over which federal agencies are accountable for receiving and actioning information reported to the government under the law.

“It is imperative that we not lose sight of the spirit of what CISA 2015 was meant to achieve and absolutely has over the last decade: improving [the US’] overall security posture and protecting our most vulnerable from potentially devastating attacks,” she said.

Immediate impacts

Nevertheless, the fact remains that CISA 2015 is, for now, no more, and security professionals will begin to notice its absence within the next 72 hours, according to James Faxon, managing director and CISO at NukuDo, a cyber skills and training company.

A core provision of the lapsed law was liability protection, meaning that private sector organisations sharing threat data and intelligence in the interests of public service could do so without fear of facing legal action should someone, such as a victim, object.

With these protections evaporating overnight, Faxon said security leaders can expect to see organisations being markedly more cautious about what they share, which will create barriers to effective incident response.

“[This] can create conditions where one company is aware of [an] adversary’s attempt to exploit critical systems, but hesitant to share information with others due to a lack of liability shielding,” he said.

Faxon said the added pressure of a government shutdown will also strain speed and coordination on government agency responses to cyber incidents, which will spill into the private sector.

“Federal teams may be slower to validate and redistribute intel, so companies will lean more on ISACs, ISAOs, and vendor platforms to keep threat information moving,” he said. “But not all companies participate in ISACs or ISAOs and as a result, may be slower to respond giving an adversary more time to execute an attack strategy.”

Dewar said he too expected to see an impact to collaboration between the government and private sector.

“If something happens in the wild we can ingest the vulnerability from open sources but we can also compare that data with announcements from CISA. That correlation is going to be degraded. I don’t think it will go away altogether, it’ll just be different,” he said.

“It’s certainly more convenient when you have that trusted source, and CISA is an amazing organisation that does a lot of good work, so it’s really helpful when they can validate. That carries a lot of weight.”

Marc van Zadelhoff, CEO of email security leader Mimecast, expressed similar concerns. “Without CISA 2015’s protections, many companies will hesitate to share critical threat intelligence,” he said.

“That could leave CISOs unfairly shouldering blame for attacks beyond their control. We wouldn’t expect someone at reception to stop an actual army from storming a building, so why do we think the person running IT security can stop nation state attackers online? Yet, that’s the position CISOs could face in the event of an attack.”

Van Zadelhoff also said this risk to information sharing extends beyond US borders, and indicated that the disruption will affect businesses and governments worldwide.

“Amid escalating nation-state campaigns, slower information sharing will directly impact global trust. As an industry, we can expect slower responses to attacks, reduced collaboration across sectors, and more opportunities for adversaries to exploit. This should concern every organisation across the globe,” he said.

Filling in the gaps

Nevertheless, there are ways in which the cyber community can still fill in the gaps that the expiry of CISA 2015 is exposing. Dewar at Tanium pointed to CISA’s partner agencies, such as the UK’s own National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), ENISA in the European Union, and so on, as sources of ongoing intelligence.

“There is an opportunity here. [Given] the global nature of cyber warfare it would be arrogant to say that the NCSC or others are deficient or not up to CISA’s standard – they all are,” he said.

“I would expect all agencies that relate to rise to the occasion and do the best they can with their resources. It’s certainly a challenge having this period of disruption but I don’t have any reason to doubt that agencies across the globe couldn’t step up and fill that gap.”

And Halcyon’s Kaiser said that as a private sector cyber practitioner, she intended to conduct business as usual for the time being.

“Halcyon specifically intends to continue information sharing for now as though the protections of CISA 2015 are still in place, in good faith anticipation of some sort of renewal, and we hope other industry partners will similarly continue their sharing posture to ensure collective protection,” she told Computer Weekly.

Shutdown increases wider cyber risk

Even without the expiry of CISA 2015, the wider government shutdown in Washington DC will be a risk multiplier for cyber pros everywhere, with organisations that contract with and supply the federal government – no matter where they are located – in the firing line of threat actors looking to exploit the disruption.

Brandon Potter, chief technology and compliance officer at cyber consultancy ProCircular, said: “One standout risk we’re anticipating is payment delays or even contract suspensions with contractors or partners of federal agencies. The downside is that vendors may need to cut their budgets, and that typically means cyber security investments decrease in the short term.

“The larger issue is that these third-parties often hold elevated access in government environments, and are frequently targeted as a means of gaining backdoor access to these more protected entities.”

Within the US specifically, Potter also highlighted the likely targeting of furloughed government employees by fraudsters exploiting the uncertainty now surrounding their pay and benefits, and by nation state actors bent on exploiting their discontent.

He said he expected to see an increase in ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure and government bodies, originating from countries like Russia that have actively worked to undermine American democracy in the past decade.

 “It’s a long game with low and slow persistence. If I am a nation state threat actor with a reasonable foothold on the network, my goal would be to continue deeper penetration and establish multiple forms of persistence to increase mission longevity and success,” said Potter. 

More votes needed

Although government shutdowns are not uncommon in the US, the country has avoided such an occurrence for almost seven years, with the last such incident taking place during president Trump’s first administration in December 2018.

The latest shutdown comes as America struggles to contend with deep-rooted political and social problems and reflects the increasingly fractious nature of the country’s national discourse, with politicians on both sides of the aisle quick to blame one another.

One particularly volatile area of disagreement is on healthcare, Congressional Democrats are staking their votes on maintaining funding subsidies for health insurance bought under former president Obama’s landmark Affordable Care Act, and reversing cuts to the Medicaid programme made by the Trump administration, upon which millions of the president’s own voters rely.

Previous shutdowns have caused disruption across the US, with government programmes and processes thrown into chaos, flights delayed, and National Parks forced to lock their gates.

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The government has reignited a row with Apple by issuing an order requiring the technology company to provide warranted access to encrypted data stored by British users on the supplier’s iCloud service.

In a previous order, the Home Office sought access to data and messages stored by Apple users from any country, including the US, in a move that sparked a diplomatic row with the Trump administration.

The Financial Times reported that the Home Office issued a second order in September, requiring Apple to provide the UK with access to encrypted cloud backups, but only for British citizens.

The move follows an announcement by the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, on social media site X on 19 August that the UK had agreed to drop demands for a “backdoor” that would allow access to the data of US citizens.

The Home Office issued a technical capability notice (TCN) against Apple in January, requiring the company to provide the technical capability for the UK to access encrypted data on Apple’s iCloud backup service worldwide.

Apple withdrew its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service, which allows users to encrypt their backed-up data using encryption keys that are inaccessible to Apple, from the UK in February.

“As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will,” the company said in a statement.

“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the UK, given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” it added.

Apple has filed a legal challenge against the Home Office to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, along with Privacy International and Liberty, in a case that is due to be heard in January 2026.

It is not clear whether or how Apple will be able to distinguish between users who are British citizens, US citizens based in the UK, or British citizens in the US, raising questions over how Apple will comply with the latest Home Office order.

While this seems like progress … the new order may be just as big a threat to worldwide security and privacy as the old one Caroline Wilson Palow, Privacy International

Caroline Wilson Palow, legal director at Privacy International, said the latest order issued by the government could still impact the security and privacy of users of Apple devices.

“While this seems like progress – and it is in the sense that the UK is clearly reacting to the global concern and US government pressure generated by its original directive to Apple – the new order may be just as big a threat to worldwide security and privacy as the old one,” she said.

“In the name of protecting the UK people, the UK government is instead undermining a crucial security protection, which seems ill-advised in a world where security risks are mounting every day,” she added.

The Home Office issues TCNs under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to require technology companies to introduce technical capabilities to conduct surveillance.

The TCN issued against Apple was approved by the investigatory powers commissioner, Brian Leveson.

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are required to obtain warrants, signed by a judicial commissioner, to access data from Apple.

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Android gives you the freedom to use whatever apps and services you want, for the most part. So, for example, if you wanted to use an email app that you prefer over what comes pre-installed, you can do that. Of course, it is a lot easier to just use what comes stock with the operating system, and for Android, that’s Gmail. It’s worth noting that you can sync external emails, too, you aren’t confined to just Google’s email services when using the app. But the fact that it is so readily available and such a big part of modern communication means that when Gmail isn’t working on your Android phone, it can cause a lot of headaches. 

Some Gmail adjustments are simple — for instance, you can change one setting to instantly make Gmail better by removing the Meet button — while others, like resolving connectivity problems, take a bit more troubleshooting. There are quite a few things that can go wrong behind the scenes to interrupt services. In Gmail’s case, it could be internet issues, on either your side or the server’s side, misconfigured sync settings, cache problems, or a few other minor complications. Each process or potential problem needs to be troubleshooted differently. But when you don’t know what’s wrong, you have to work step-by-step to try and find a fix. Here are some common reasons why Gmail may not be working on your Android, and how to resolve them.

Google’s services are down

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Never underestimate the possibility of a server-side outage. Sometimes, a service like Gmail and Google’s Workspace applications are down for the count, and there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s because there’s nothing wrong with your device, or the app, or your internet connection, so you’ll just have to wait until the problem is fixed. To proceed, you have a couple of options. You can use a tool like Down Detector to check Google’s services, and many others. Google also manages a public dashboard you can use to check the server status of its services. In Google’s chart, an orange encircled exclamation mark means there are service disruptions, while a big red circled “X” means an outage.

If you notice either of these indicators next to Gmail, it means there are technical difficulties on the company’s side, and they probably have engineers working to fix the problem. It’s annoying when you have to sit and wait, but that’s the way of the digital world and online services, unfortunately. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that there was a major Google Cloud outage that took out half the internet.

You might need to update the Gmail app

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If you don’t make a regular habit out of updating your mobile apps on your phone, you probably should start. Many of them still work on older, outdated versions, but they lose functions, introduce security risks, and sometimes, like with Gmail, they stop working or connecting altogether. Syncing issues, when your local client or app cannot connect to the remote server, can be caused by using an outdated app version, especially since Google is constantly pushing out updates for its core applications.

To update the app, head to the Play Store, tap your profile icon in the top right, and then tap Manage apps & device > See details under Updates available. Look for Gmail in the list and select Update as needed. You can also just search for Gmail in the search bar when you first open Google Play. Yes, Google may notify you when there’s an update available, but it’s still best to check on your own. It’s easy to dismiss those notifications when you’re busy and forget about them, and sometimes you may not even receive them.

You should check your Gmail synchronization settings

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An app like Gmail that receives perpetual updates usually has a subset of options related to synchronization. These controls often define how often the app connects and polls server data, determining how often you’ll receive updates about new emails. It is possible to turn sync off or adjust these settings so that Gmail doesn’t connect properly.

To check this, open Gmail, tap the menu in the top left (three lines), and scroll down to Settings. Select your primary Gmail account, scroll down to the Data usage section and make sure the toggle next to Sync Gmail is checked. If sync is enabled, a blue checkmark will appear. Once that’s done, close the Gmail app and open your Android phone’s settings. Go to About device > Google Account > Account sync on most Android devices, or Accounts and backup > Manage accounts > your main Gmail account on Samsung devices. Tap Account Sync and then make sure Gmail is selected and enabled in the list. Close the Gmail app if you had it open and refresh your connection. If it still won’t sync, make sure you have an active internet connection. Double-check that you didn’t disable your Wi-Fi or mobile connection through the quick settings toggles.

There’s a cache or storage issue

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Every Android app has a data cache that can become corrupted. The cache is basically made up of previously used or downloaded files, accessible quickly to make loading the app faster with each subsequent use. When that cache becomes corrupted, for whatever reason, it can cause apps to misbehave. You can try clearing the cache, but don’t worry, it won’t remove important user files. If you are worried, it’s possible to back up your Gmail data beforehand, using a simple, accessible method.

Open Android settings, go to Apps > See all Apps > Gmail. Under either Storage & cache or just Storage, tap the Clear cache button. For good measure, press the back button and select Force Stop from the Gmail information page. If you restart the Gmail app and are still having sync issues, you could check your local storage. Sometimes, when the storage is full, apps can misbehave or won’t sync new data, in which case you need to delete some apps or files to free up some available space.

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