ISC2, the non-profit cyber professional membership association, has joined the UK government’s recently launched Software Security Ambassador Scheme as an expert adviser.

Set up at the beginning of the year by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the scheme forms part of a wider £210m commitment by Westminster to remodel approaches to public sector cyber resilience from the ground up, acknowledging that previous approaches to the issue have basically gone nowhere and that previously set targets for resilience are unachievable.

It is designed to incentivise organisations to pay more attention to the security of software products, and supports the wider adoption of the Software Security Code of Practice, a set of voluntary principles defining what secure software looks like.

ISC2 joins a number of tech suppliers, including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and Sage; consultancies and service providers including Accenture and NCC Group; and financial services firms including Lloyds Banking Group and Santander. Fellow cyber association ISACA is also involved.

“Promoting secure software practices that strengthen the resilience of systems underpinning the economy, public services and national infrastructure is central to ISC2’s mission,” said ISC2’s executive vice-president for advocacy and strategic engagement, Tara Wisniewski.

“The code moves software security beyond narrow compliance and elevates it to a board-level resilience priority. As supply chain attacks continue to grow in scale and impact, a shared baseline is essential and through our global community and expertise, ISC2 is committed to helping professionals build the skills needed to put secure-by-design principles into practice,” she said.

Software vulns a huge barrier to resilience

A study of wider supply chain risks conducted last year by ISC2 found that a little over half of organisations worldwide reported that vulnerabilities in their software suppliers’ products represented the most disruptive cyber security threat to their overall supply chain.

And the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Global Cybersecurity Outlook report, published on 12 January, revealed that third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities were seen as a huge barrier to building cyber resilience by C-suite executives.

A total of 65% of respondents to the WEF’s annual poll flagged such flaws as the greatest challenge their organisation faced on its pathway to resilience, compared to 54% at the beginning of 2025. This outpaced factors such as the evolving threat landscape and emerging AI technology, use of legacy IT systems, regulatory compliance and governance, and cyber skills shortages.

Pressed on the top supply chain cyber risks, respondents were most concerned about their ability to assure the integrity of software and other IT services, ahead of a lack of visibility into their supplier’s supply chains and overdependence on critical third-party suppliers.

The UK’s Code of Practice seeks to answer this challenge by establishing expectations and best practices for tech providers and any other organisations that either develop, sell or buy software products. It covers aspects such as secure design and development, the security of build environments, deployment and ongoing upkeep, and transparent communication with customers and users.

As part of its role as an ambassador, ISC2 will assist in developing and improving the Code of Practice, while championing it by embedding its guiding principles into its own cyber education and professional development services – the organisation boasts 10,000 UK members and associates. 

It will also help to drive adoption of the Code of Practice through various awareness campaigns, incorporating it into its certifications, training and guidance, engaging with industry stakeholders and members to encourage implementation, and incorporating its provisions into its work with its own commercial suppliers. 

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Unexpected problems in the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI’s) ControlWorks software led to police having to resort to manual forms to record calls from the public soon after the software’s introduction in 2019, Computer Weekly has learned.

The force has not reported the incidents to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, which oversees the PSNI, and has not mentioned any incidents with ControlWorks in its annual reports.

While there is no legal duty to report failures with ControlWorks to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, the Policing Board has told Computer Weekly it would expect any serious incidents with ControlWorks to be reported to it.

The PSNI uses ControlWorks as part of its command and control system, for managing, logging and categorising calls received by the emergency services from the public and for dispatching police officers to incidents.

Computer Weekly has learned that the PNSI’s ControlWorks system had technical issues after it first went live in May 2019.

These included slow-downs of the system that required computer systems to be restarted or software to be patched.

On some occasions, police were forced to return to using paper forms to record incidents reported by the public after ControlWorks became unavailable. Information on the forms had to be typed back into the system when the service resumed.

ControlWorks aimed to improve response times

The PSNI announced it was using Capita Communications and Control Solutions’ ControlWorks software in 2018, replacing its 20-year-old Capita Atlas Command and Control System, which had reached the end of its life.

From February 2018, ControlWorks was installed across the PSNI’s three regional contact management centres, before going live in May 2019, but is understood to have had a series of issues during its first few months of operation.

Critical incidents, which affect force-wide availability of ControlWorks, are categorised as P1 or P2. Less serious incidents that do not require urgent remediation are categorised as P3 and P4, Computer Weekly has previously reported.

Computer Weekly understands that the PSNI runs a 24-hour help desk to deal with IT issues, and that it has the ability to escalate incidents with ControlWorks to its IT supplier.

Missing persons search

Computer Weekly understands that a “major issue” with ControlWorks may have delayed information being passed to police officers searching for missing teenager Noah Donohoe, who disappeared from his home in Belfast on 21 June 2020.

Donohoe’s disappearance sparked a massive search operation, as police reviewed hours of CCTV, and hundreds of volunteers joined the search for the vulnerable 14-year-old.

Computer Weekly has learned that on the evening of 23 June 2020, police recorded a “major issue” with ControlWorks that could have led to delays in information being passed to investigators.

Computer Weekly further understands that on the evening of 24 June, a member of the public called police to say they had seen an individual attempting to sell Donohoe’s missing laptop.

This potentially critical information was delayed in being brought to the attention of police officers investigating Donohoe’s disappearance  because of a problem with ControlWorks, Computer Weekly has been told.

It is unclear exactly how long the information was delayed by and what its impact on the search for the missing teenager was. But it is understood that detectives on the case reported and noted the delay during the investigation.

The issue with ControlWorks was understood to have been reported during the live investigation at a critical time when Donohoe was missing – two days after he had gone missing, and four days before he was found dead in a Belfast storm drain.

Manchester had serious IT issues

Greater Manchester Police experienced problems when it went live with its Integrated Operational Policing System (iOPS), which included ControlWorks, in July 2019. iOps attempted to integrate Capita’s ControlWorks software with Capita’s PoliceWorks record management software used by police officers for managing day-to-day investigations and intelligence records.

An independent review found serious issues with the project. At one point, police were forced to revert to pen and paper for 72 hours while records were migrated to the new system.

“This consumed considerable time and capacity, causing a duplication of work,” the report found. “In addition, some legacy demand, which included ongoing investigations, did not successfully transfer from the old systems, so could no longer be worked on.”

Greater Manchester Police subsequently announced plans to replace PoliceWorks after concluding it could not be adapted or fixed, but it has continued to use ControlWorks.

The PSNI uses a different record management system to Manchester’s troubled PoliceWorks system. The PSNI signed a £9m contract with the Canadian company NicheRMS to deploy its Records Management System, which records information about people, locations, vehicles, incidents and evidence, in 2006.

NicheRMS keeps duplicate records of reports from the public that are recorded on ControlWorks when they are escalated as an “incident”. This means that should data be lost because of problems with ControlWorks, the PSNI would still have access to duplicate records reported by the public on NicheRMS if they have been escalated as an “incident”.

Policing Board seeks clarification from PSNI

The Northern Ireland Policing Board has confirmed that if a major system disruption or significant information or data loss occurred, the board would expect to be informed.

A spokesperson told Computer Weekly that the board’s Resources Committee, which has oversight responsibility for matters including the PSNI’s technology systems, has asked the PSNI for clarification about the issues raised by Computer Weekly.

A coroner’s inquest into the circumstances of Noah Donohoe’s death is due to begin on 19 January.

The PSNI said it would “not comment on investigative matters while legal proceedings are ongoing”.

“With regards to questions relating to ControlWorks, police can confirm that, to date, there has been no instance of major disruption which has led to data loss,” a spokesperson said.

Capita declined to comment.

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It can be a dirty world, and we’re all just living in it. Keeping electronics clean requires the same routine maintenance as anything else in your life, but some components and areas can be harder to clean than others. For example, removing external dust safely from devices can be straightforward, but keeping a dusty charging port clean may take a little more finesse.

Your charging port can collect enough dust inside of it that the charging cable may not even connect properly. It’s also possible to push dust further inside when you connect the cable. If you need to clean the inside of a charging port, something small, thin, and ideally not made of metal is going to be your best bet. You’ll also want to use compressed air when taking preventative measures. The name of the game here is being careful, as you don’t want to disturb the internal components of your electronics.

Though certain charging ports can be relatively small, as long as you have the right tool, saying goodbye to dusty charging ports is fairly easy. Like finding a good TV cleaning routine, keeping the charging ports on your electronics tidy depends on how often they’re used and where you store them. So, if your device isn’t charging properly or the cable isn’t sitting in the port the way it should, check out this simple cleaning trick.

How to clean your phone’s charging port

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There may come a time when you need to tidy up a charging port, especially with smartphones. While there are other methods for keeping a USB-C port clean, for this cleaning trick, we’ll be using a small, thin object to start. It’s pretty easy to do, but the type of object and material you use is important for keeping your device operational.

A wooden toothpick is a bad choice, as it can splinter or break, but a plastic dental pick can work wonders. A cocktail stick or coffee stirrer can also be useful, but try to avoid anything metal, as it can potentially harm the device. Use a flashlight to check the cleanliness of the port before starting.

Once you have a solid tool, here are the steps for cleaning your dusty charging port:

1. Shut off whatever device you’re about to clean and make sure it’s not plugged in.

2. Grab your cleaning tool.

3. Inspect the port and look for visible dust.

4. Gently insert the tool into the port and carefully move it around to loosen and remove dirt.

5. Use compressed air or a soft, clean brush to clear out any remaining dust.

6. Inspect the port and turn on your device. Check the charging connection if necessary.

Although there’s no real schedule for keeping charging ports clean, it is a good idea to check the device every so often to make sure it’s still looking good and behaving correctly. You might also consider installing cheap USB port covers.

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Opera has been serious about transforming the way people browse the web. In late 2024, the company said how we do this would dramatically change in two years. However, it already did: In 2025, an ocean of AI agentic browsers were released, including Opera Neon, OpenAI’s Atlas, The Browser Company’s Dia, and so on. While each of them have their own particularities, they all lack some of the most common features that make a browser good.

To focus on AI agentic functions, the first iterations of these browsers lacked features like bookmarks, favorites, importing extensions, or even everyday commands that we use in a browser that weren’t available in these new ones. With that, Opera is going with a different approach by taking agentic AI features from its Neon experience to its mainstream option.

After more than a year since the last big update with the Opera One R2, the Norwegian company has revamped its main browser with Opera One R3, which adds a few AI features and several life quality improvements for anyone, like me, who has ditched Chrome and Safari for a smarter experience.

Opera One R3: AI integration, improved tab experience, and more

One of the main features of Opera One is Tab Islands, which helps you organize tabs by interests, like splitting your work tabs from your shop tabs, or from that trip you’re planning to make. With the R3 update, users can rename and choose new colors to improve this inspiration. However, more than these aesthetic features, the AI inside the browser can now understand the context of these tabs (if you’d like) to help you do stuff. For example, the Opera AI functionality can get the timestamp of a YouTube video or answer a question based on the tab you have opened, so you can work alongside the browser.

Besides that, Opera One has always been about modular design, and the new sidebar lets you add webpages and webapps to it; an improvement over the previous version that was limited to a few apps. The company is also replacing its beta program with an early bird offer, so users can test new features without downloading a different browser. 

By toggling on the early bird functions, users can get some of the upcoming features, like a big Split Tab improvement. The Split Tab is one of my favorite features of Opera One, which lets me have two tabs opened in a single page, and now it’s evolving with Opera One R3 to offer up to four tabs opened simultaneously. You can find the new R3 version here.

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The US National Security Agency (NSA) has published its latest guidance on zero trust to secure US federal government IT networks and systems. This is the first of two guidance documents coming out of the NSA, providing “practical and actionable” recommendations that can be applied as best practice to secure corporate IT environments both in the public and private sectors.

In the Zero trust primer document, the NSA defines a “zero-trust mindset”, which means assuming IT environment traffic, users, devices and infrastructure may be compromised. To achieve this, the guidance urges IT security teams to establish a rigorous authentication and authorisation process for all access requests.

In the context of securing the integrity of government IT systems, it said that such a strategy enhances the security posture of networks by rigorously validating every access request, which prevents unauthorised changes, reduces risk of malicious code insertion, and ensures the integrity of software and supply chains

The main takeaway from the NSA regarding zero trust is to never trust users or devices that request network connectivity or access to internal resources. The NSA guidance calls for verification without exception, where dynamic authentication and explicit approval is used across all activities on the network, adhering to the principle of least privilege.

Specifically, the NSA’s latest guidance suggests that IT security teams should assume they are working in an IT environment where there is a breach, which means operating and defending resources under the assumption that an adversary already has a presence in the environment.

The NSA said IT security teams should plan for deny-by-default and heavily scrutinise all users, devices, data flows and requests. This means that IT security teams need to log, inspect and monitor all configuration changes, resource accesses and environment traffic for suspicious activity continuously.

The guidance also recommends explicit verification. This implies that access to all resources is consistently verified, using both dynamic and static mechanisms, which is used to derive what the NSA calls “confidence levels for contextual access decisions”.

Commenting on the guidelines, zero-trust expert Brian Soby, CTO and co-founder of AppOmni, said: “Across the guidance, the emphasis is on continuous logging, inspection and monitoring of resource access and configuration change, plus comprehensive visibility across layers.

“Read plainly, the NSA is suggesting that many programs are built around coarse checkpoints and limited signals, while the real risk lives inside enterprise applications, especially SaaS, where sensitive data and business workflows reside.”

Soby’s understanding of the new guidelines is that effective zero trust requires a thorough understanding of what users can and cannot do, instead of simply relying on their ability to authenticate through network directory services and the authorisation that successful authentication gives them.

“Many security programs still substitute directory groups and simplistic roles for true entitlement materiality, even though effective access in modern SaaS is shaped by application-native permissions, sharing rules, delegated administration, conditional controls and third-party OAuth grants.”

He noted that the NSA’s emphasis on monitoring resource access and configuration change implies that relying on coarse identity abstractions leaves IT security teams blind to the actions and permission shifts that create exposure and enable misuse.

“This gap also lines up uncomfortably well with the breaches and campaigns we are seeing now,” he added.

As an example, Soby said that recent intrusions tied to groups tracked as UNC6040 and UNC6395 have highlighted how attackers can bypass traditional, frontdoor-centred controls by abusing SaaS identities and integrations, including compromised OAuth tokens and third-party application access, to reach and extract data from SaaS environments.

“In that light, the NSA’s guidance supports a sharper conclusion: identity security programs that cannot truly understand user activities, behaviours and the materiality of entitlements inside applications do not match the principles of zero trust,” said Soby. “These often become more performative than effective, leaving security operations centre teams stuck with generic signals like logins when the meaningful attacker activity is happening inside the app.”

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If you’re looking for a streaming device that’s easy to set up, is packed with apps, and won’t break the bank, you should consider going with a Roku Streaming Stick. These budget-friendly, plug-and-play gadgets require little in the way of setup, and once they’re connected to Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to stream your favorite movies and shows across popular platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max.

There are numerous tips and tricks for fine-tuning your Roku hardware, but if you’re looking to buy the best Roku Streaming Stick at the ground level, you’ll want to nab yourself the Roku Streaming Stick 4K. With a list price of $50, the Streaming Stick 4K has a 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon, based on more than 94,500 user reviews. Praised for its simple installation and immense selection of streaming apps, the Streaming Stick 4K is one of Roku’s best devices for long-range Wi-Fi performance.

This means that if your router isn’t located in the same room as the Stick, the improved Wi-Fi receiver should still provide minimal load times and buffering — even for 4K HDR content. Speaking of which, the Stick 4K supports HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+. If you’re willing to wait around for a sale, the Streaming Stick 4K has dropped below $40 in the past, dipping as low as $25.

How the Roku Streaming Stick 4K excels

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Under the hood, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K runs an ARM Cortex A55 CPU with 1GB of RAM. In most cases, that’s plenty of power and data for streaming movies and shows, bouncing between apps, and controlling smart home devices. Speaking of which, the Stick 4K is compatible with Alexa, Google Home, HomeKit, and Roku’s smart ecosystem. You’ll even be able to use Apple AirPlay to mirror your phone screen to your TV.

Generally speaking, most folks praise the Streaming Stick 4K for its simple setup and user-friendly interface. Many customers were also pleased with the speed of the streaming device; though there were a few individuals who experienced lagging performance. Fortunately, you’ll be able to switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz connectivity if you notice one network band bottlenecking more than the other. 

For those wondering how long a Roku Streaming Stick 4K should be expected to last, generally speaking, you should get around three to 10 years of streaming from this device. As you can guess, Roku’s hardware and software isn’t without its haters, but a lot of the complaints are over the increasing amount of ads you’ll find throughout Roku’s user interface. Unfortunately, ads are something you’ll end up dealing with across most streaming device brands and products — so we wouldn’t let that be a deal-breaker as you consider whether or not to buy the Roku Streaming Stick 4K.

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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has unveiled a London taskforce on artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of work, during his annual Mansion House speech.

Recognising the need for urgent action to prevent mass unemployment in London, he also announced free AI training for Londoners.

Khan warned that unless urgent action is taken, the advent of AI would cause immense damage to the capital. He called for a collaborative effort to shape the AI revolution and harness the potential positives to ensure it benefits rather than damages society.

A poll by City Hall found that over half of London workers expect AI to impact their job in some way in the next 12 months.

“It feels as though the ground beneath our feet is shifting,” said Khan. “Artificial intelligence is beginning to cause tectonic movements in our markets, industries and workplaces. We can hear the low rumbling of a new technological revolution, but we don’t yet know what course it will take.”

Mirroring the government’s view on the opportunity AI presents for the UK, he said it could transform public services, turbocharge productivity, and tackle complex challenges such as cancer care and the climate crisis.

However, Khan warned: “Used recklessly, it could usher in a new era of mass unemployment, accelerated inequality and an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power. Neither is an inevitability, but one thing’s for sure: we mustn’t drift, absentmindedly, into a future we didn’t ask for and don’t want. We need to wake up and make a choice: seize the potential of AI and use it as a superpower for positive transformation and creation, or surrender to it, and sit back and watch as it becomes a weapon of mass destruction of jobs.”

LinkedIn’s Work change report, which looks at the impact of AI in the workplace, says that by 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change, with AI emerging as a catalyst. The report’s authors note that there has been a 140% increase in the pace at which LinkedIn members add new skills to their profiles since 2022. This includes an uptick in technical skills and a rise in uniquely human skills such as communication and leadership.

LinkedIn’s headline figures from the report shows that over half of CEOs expect a 10% uptick in their organisation’s performance thanks to the use of generative AI technology.

Khan wrote on X: “The impact of AI on London’s jobs market will be seismic. Some of our biggest sectors (e.g. creative, financial) rank among the most likely to be affected.”

He said the taskforce seeks to understand the impact AI will have on jobs in London, and identify the skills Londoners need to move into future roles and how London can stay competitive in a global job market.

Khan also said political leaders have a responsibility to protect people against the dangers of new technology. He added that policymakers need to learn from the mistakes that have been made in failing to shape and regulate the digital revolution.

“Our new AI skills course will be available to any Londoner who’d like to learn AI skills, and it’ll be completely free – because everyone should be able to share in the benefits of this technology,” said Khan. “It’s up to us to make sure AI delivers the brighter future we all want to see.”

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On January 14, 2026, the Verizon mobile network experienced an outage that lasted most of the day and purportedly affected over two million customers (via Down Detector). By 10 p.m. EST, January 14, the outage was fixed, and Verizon issued an official statement on the ordeal apologizing for the inconvenience and offering a $20 credit, which “can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app to accept.”

“This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging our customers’ time and showing that this matters to us,” Verizon’s statement reads. Besides apologizing and promising to continue working hard “day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that people expect from Verizon,” the company does not reveal what caused the outage, explain measures being taken, or mention how it plans to prevent future events like this. The good news is that if you were affected, like me, you should be able to log in to the myVerizon app and claim the credits soon, if not already.

It was odd for many Verizon users to see their home internet working just fine, even Wi-Fi on their phone, while the mobile network showed no signal at all — or in some cases, an SOS icon. I was one of the people affected for several hours on January 14. There was no way to send or receive texts, make or take calls, or handle anything data-related, at least not over mobile networks.

What caused the January 14 Verizon outage?

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Speaking to USA Today on January 15, a Verizon spokesperson claimed the outage was tied to software problems and mentioned the company is reviewing what happened.

This is not the first time a widespread outage affected Verizon customers. In March 2019, another major Verizon outage prevented users from sending and receiving texts over mobile networks. Yet another service disruption affected hundreds of thousands of customers in August 2025. But even previous outages didn’t last 10 hours or longer as this one has.

Verizon laid off over 13,000 employees in November 2025, adding to more than 100,000 full-time employees dismissed over the last couple of years. While there’s no indication these job cuts are tied to this outage, it likely had implications for customer experience. It’s especially problematic when Verizon quietly raised wireless bills and increased revenue, as reported in its third fiscal quarter earnings of 2025. Meanwhile, Verizon is investing in AI to lure customers away from competitors.

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Recommerce, pre-loved, resale, or second-hand goods – whatever synonym one would like to use – is a big focus area for retail.

It has moved from niche to mainstream, according to the fifth annual Recommerce report from online marketplace eBay.

The report, published in November 2025, shows 89% of global consumers surveyed expect to spend the same amount or more on preloved goods in 2025 compared with 2024.With more than 27,000 people surveyed globally, including both eBay sellers and general consumers, it’s a comprehensive study that can be trusted.

A key finding from the report is that recommerce is no longer viewed solely as an alternative way to shop, but as “a conscious lifestyle choice driven by personal values, community connection and financial empowerment”.

As Jamie Iannone, CEO at eBay, says in the report: “Recommerce is redefining how people shop – led by a new generation that values connection, purpose and sustainability.

“Nearly 80% of Gen Z and millennials see themselves as part of this movement, turning their passion for preloved items into real impact.”

Iannone said eBay’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools are making it “easier than ever” for people and retailers to resell goods online and give them another life under the ownership of someone new.

And the reference to technology is a pertinent one, because there’s a whole enterprise software market forming to support this ever-burgeoning area of retail.

In 2025 alone, resale platform provider Archive raised $30m in Series B funding, with the cash being used to develop the company’s “resale intelligence software”, drive more global partnerships, and deliver product innovation and services. That was announced last February, and then, in June, Germany-based Brandback revealed it had raised $7.4m across its pre-seed and seed funding rounds to support its growth in the space.

Brandback’s investment is being directed towards enhancing its engineering teams, working on its own AI capabilities, and onboarding more global retailers.

In 2025, Computer Weekly covered mobile apps 2.0, electronic shelf labels, digital receipts and in-store tech to deter criminals as four of the hottest areas of innovation and investment in retail this year, and resale tech can be added to that list.

Digital IDs and one-click listings

Last year – 12 months on from its acquisition of digital ID and authentication platform Certilogo – eBay launched a click-to-resell feature using Certilogo’s connected product smart tags. It means consumers can list their clothing on eBay in a couple of clicks of a button, with the new feature built into Certilogo’s Secure by Design digital ID.

Italian outerwear and lifestyle brand Save The Duck was the first to pilot the feature, which allows sellers to scan a QR code on garments connected with the digital ID labels for instant online listing.

The scan prompts a “resell your garment” button on the item’s digital profile which directs them to check the authenticity of the item through Certilogo’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based ID system by signing in with their eBay account. Once the check is completed, an eBay listing will be pre-filled with information, but sellers can add additional information if they wish to.

In 2023, eBay introduced what it calls its “magical listing tool”, which uses AI to extrapolate details about listings from images, and allows sellers to list items quickly and ensure buyers have comprehensive product information before making a purchase. The marketplace continues to explore new ways of using AI as new strands of the technology evolve.

Tech behind the scenes

The list of resale tech providers is extensive; it’s a crowded market, but it also provides evidence of the consumer demand for buying second-hand items from their favourite brands.

Circular services platform provider Save Your Wardrobe’s co-founder, Hasna Kourda, says “more businesses want to take a chance” when there is huge interest in a market.

Indeed, Amazon-commissioned research by economic forecast group the Centre for Economics Business Research (CEBR) found two-thirds of Brits bought second-hand goods online in 2024. The online second-hand market is expected to be worth £4.8bn in 2025, according to the study, which cited cost-of-living pressures, wider availability of pre-owned products and environmental awareness as driving factors.

US-based Archive is working with companies such as The North Face, Lululemon and New Balance to allow these brands to run their own resale channels, while Treet kickstarted a resale platform partnership with online fashion retailer Oh Polly in May.

Resale as a service (RaaS) is a growth market, and it sits within a wider cohort of circularity platforms aiming to help retailers drive value from recommerce, repair and rental.

One prominent UK player in that space is Motherwell-based ACS Clothing, which calls itself a circular fashion hub and manages the logistics, such as cleaning, storage and transportation, for retailers that offer repairs, rental and resale. It also aligns with tech providers such as Archive when retailers opt to bring in a dedicated RaaS provider.

Andrew Rough, CEO of ACS Clothing, which counts formalwear retailer Moss and Scandi denim brand Nudie Jeans’ fast-growing UK arm among its customers, says the volume of tech partners complicates the market.

“They’re all selling a similar service and, rightly, make out their tech is the best – but this makes it a bit complicated,” he explains, adding that tech partner ACS has worked with in the past have sometimes been guilty of overstating what they offer retailers.

He says retail service providers should never give the impression they can do things they can’t, underlining how ACS does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work to support brands’ front-end recommerce.

Fundamentally, though, Rough thinks retailers that have not already done so need to get into the recommerce space, “otherwise they’ll be left behind”.

“Brands contact us saying they need to do something circular but they don’t know what to do, and I find that odd because they should be meeting the demands of their customers,” he notes.

“They say, ‘We don’t really want to be in resale,’ but the truth is they already are. If you go on eBay or Depop, people are buying the product, but brands and retailers aren’t part of the transaction and they’re missing out on a great opportunity.”

Save Your Wardrobe’s Kourda says her company is unique in its sector, and that the business continues to invest in its tech stack to make its platform as compelling and useful as possible as more companies seek circular services for their customers.

One investment has been an AI damage detector which Kourda says recognises defects and provides “an instant diagnosis before planning next steps for the best repair possible”.

Brands using it introduce their individual policies to the system so they can provide a tailored service to their customers.

“It was in answer to the lack of expertise in retail and shops, where there is a knowledge gap around repairs and warranties,” says Kourda. “The damage detector connected to our mapped-out aftercare services creates an integrated solution to help businesses in an instant, allowing them to direct products to the right category.”

Embedded resale and interconnectivity

ACS integrates into multiple major resale platforms, and in 2025, it invested in and expanded its tech to allow its customers to multi-list on Depop and eBay – and it will soon do the same with luxury marketplace Vestiaire Collective, according to Rough.

“Brands can now simultaneously list the same item on different marketplaces – if bought on one, it’ll be removed automatically from the others,” he notes.

“We have enhanced our own tech capabilities so a brand can come to us directly. The reason why a brand will go to an Archive or one of its peers is because they’ll build a frontend platform, but if a brand wants their items in eBay and Depop, we can do that for them.”

Rough says the likes of eBay and Vinted are actually “driving the cost of second-hand down”.

“We have been able to show when it’s a controlled branded marketplace, the same item can sell for ten times more because people pay more because they are getting authenticity and in some cases warranty – buying off someone you trust rather than not knowing who they are,” he says.

Improving capabilities

That embedded resale is what Berlin-based Brandback touts as the key to success in recommerce, and it has a growing team of engineers working on its proposition to ensure it continues to improve its capabilities. Its software integrates directly into online retailers’ baskets, listings and checkouts, and the company says it enables a “seamless” resale experience for customers while also unlocking new revenue streams for retailers.

For example, Brandback’s software allows its retailer customers to display resale values at checkout, which it says helps boost conversion rates.

It’s a sign there’s a growing number of consumers considering the afterlife of an item before they’ve even bought it new.

Often when it comes to sustainability and technology strategy, retailers will launch things their customers have not necessarily requested. Moves will be made in the name of corporate social responsibility, meeting new legislation, or innovation for innovation’s sake.

Through its recommerce report, eBay is highlighting how consumers truly want more resale options. And according to the marketplace, shoppers are embracing recommerce for both practical and purposeful reasons, “balancing financial motivation with values-driven intent”.

Saving money

Some 81% of consumers cite saving money as one of the key reasons for buying pre-loved goods, with 45% referencing sustainability and environmental benefits.

Intriguingly, 63% of consumers consider themselves part of a “recommerce community”, with that number rising to almost 80% among Gen Z and millennials. For years, online retail has always lagged behind physical retail stores in terms of the interaction and personal relationships it can foster, but with the continued rise of recommerce, this is changing.

All of this bodes well for the tech market in the resale space, which also features software providers such as Trove, Faume and Zeercle, as well as dedicated platforms such as The Little Loop.

Depop and Vinted sit alongside eBay as tech-enabled marketplaces looking to support the growing pre-loved market.

Kourda argues that adding the option of a repair warranty and embedding it alongside resale might help luxury retailers and brands get more from the recommerce space.

“There is still maturity to come in the market – if you add repair you can increase value to the items they sell and help convert a second-hand purchase,” she says.

Room for evolution

There’s certainly room for the recommerce market – and the tech supporting it – to evolve in the 12 months ahead. And it will, according to Rough.

“It’s inevitable there’ll be consolidation in the market,” he argues.

“If you go back to the explosion of the internet and e-commerce – brands began by outsourcing it and got third parties to build websites then they went in-house. Recommerce could go down this route – there’s bound to be consolidation, and brands will want to do it themselves.

“The tech partners are a stepping stone to where retailers and brands will ultimately get to,” says Rough.

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We’re always on the lookout for great tech deals, especially when said deal involves an accessory that’s useful for a variety of modern electronics. It’s likely that at least one device in your home requires the use of an HDMI cable, and Amazon currently has its own brand on sale that comes with a rather hefty discount. Like an Amazon gadget that can save you big on batteries, this is one worth checking out.

Right now, Amazon has a 3-pack of HDMI 2.0 cables for about the same price as a 4-pack of Red Bull, and they’re also highly rated by actual customers — but naturally, Amazon thinks highly of them as well. Along with good ratings, these cables also come with some decent specifications for modern equipment, and they can also support a variety of devices.

There are a variety of Amazon Basics that customers swear by, and if our list was a bit longer, it might have included the 3-pack of Amazon Basics HDMI Cables. Of course, before you buy any new cables for your electronics, you should make sure to determine what display port the device uses, as that can have an impact on transfer speeds and the like when connecting to a PC.

Save 30% on Amazon Basics HDMI 2.0 cables

It’s always worth keeping track of when it’s time to update old HDMI cables, but keeping some extras around also isn’t a bad idea depending on the number of electronics you have that need them. Currently, Amazon is selling its Amazon Basics 6-foot HDMI 2.0 cables in a 3-pack for $7.55, saving you 30% on the typical $10.79 price. There are also other options available — both in length and quantity — though not all of them are on sale.

The Amazon Basics 3-pack of 6-foot HDMI 2.0 cables features A Male to A Male ends for connections, and can support a variety of devices, including Blu-ray players, Amazon Fire TV, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and more. With 4K video support up to 60Hz and 2160p, the cables also support bandwidth up to 18Gbps, 3D, Audio Return Channel (ARC), and Ethernet. The cables are also backwards compatible, so they can work with older HDMI devices. However, the cables will not properly function with devices that output higher than 4K at 60Hz.

Along with being an Amazon’s Choice item, over 4,000 have been bought in the last month. These cables also have a 4.7-star rating with over 560,000 reviews. Customers appreciate the cables for their reliability, proper handling of 60Hz content, and durability. However, a number of 1-star reviews have complaints about the cables dying on them. Nonetheless, the current price of these cables does make them a gadget on Amazon under $10 that can actually be worth it.

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