Technology – Expert Witness : Technology – page 2

Consultant warned of ransomware attack

Leading healthcare IT consultant Dr Saif Abed (pictured) must have experienced an acute bout of déjà vu when reports of the ransomware attack on the NHS began filtering through from such disparate sources as hospitals, GP surgeries and even pharmacies.

Dr Abed, a founding partner of consultancy AbedGraham, had blogged back in August last year – under the chillingly prophetic title Ransomware will kill a patient – that such software was a major threat because of the procedures it could disrupt.

CCTV: national strategy launched

On 14 March the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, Tony Porter, launched a national surveillance camera strategy for England and Wales, to help keep people safe in public places and respect their right to privacy.

The strategy aims to provide direction and leadership in the surveillance camera community, to enable system operators to understand good and best practice and their legal obligations – such as those contained in the Protection of Freedoms Act, Data Protection Act and Private Security Industry Act.

In a statement, the commissioner’s office said: “It is the commissioner’s strategic vision to ensure the public are assured that any use of surveillance camera systems in a public place helps to protect and keep them safe, while respecting the individual’s right to privacy. That assurance is based upon deployment which is proportionate to a legitimate purpose, and transparency which demonstrates compliance with best and good practice and relevant legal obligations.

The Law Society of Scotland honoured at new Cyber Awards

The Law Society of Scotland has scooped a top honour for its ‘Smartcard’ initiative which offers law firms a robust and reliable confirmation of credentials, helping reassure the public they are consulting with a trusted legal advisor.

The professional body – which currently has over 11,000 members - was named winner of the Leading Light Innovation Award at the inaugural Scottish Cyber Awards, ahead of fellow finalists: Net-Defence and Payfont.

Lorna Jack, Chief Executive of the Law Society of Scotland, was pleased to see the society recognised for their work in reassuring clients and expediting processes like submissions to courts and tribunals.

Updated aid to CCTV testing published

In August the Home Office’s Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) published updated information on Testing CCTV Image Quality.

CAST has developed a range of tests to assist system installers and owners to robustly assess the performance of their CCTV systems. The tests are designed to be simple to use and produce results that are easy for a non-technical person to understand. The test system helps with common problems like video compression, changeable viewing resolution and variable transmission bit rate/bandwidth, which can all result in the unpredictable quality of digital CCTV images.

The kit is a set of test images and instructions about how to produce and use them. It includes tests for human identification, vehicle registration number legibility, colour rendition and resolution.

Care home CCTV petition reaches landmark

An online petition calling for CCTV to be installed in all care homes across the UK has notched up 10,000 signatures, the point at which the government is required to provide an official response.

Lisa Smith (pictured) created the petition in January, having taken her 86 year old father Joshua out of care after four years, claiming his life had been a ‘living nightmare’ during that time due to poor care.

“I’m delighted and really made up that so many people have signed the petition, and that the whole issue of care home abuse and neglect is being placed into the spotlight and being discussed,” said Lisa.

“CCTV is now a must. There have been some horrendous cases gone to the courts and reported in the media. Let’s get CCTV in care homes and stop this poor treatment.”