Joe Tidy BBC News

Hope you enjoy it Ragnar!

I know! But I'm working on the US edition now so should be worth the wait!

One of the best things about publishing my book has been readers in the cyber community and beyond sending me their holiday pics with the book! Thanks to all those who have bought it, read it and sent me a lovely pic of 'cybercrime on the sun lounger!'

'Met Police facial recognition tech mistook me for wanted man' Shaun Thompson is challenging the Met Police's use of live facial recognition technology.

In one article - the pros and cons of facial recognition laid out so distinctly. The tech is getting better and making a difference: 'Since January 2025, there had been 457 arrests and seven false alerts.' But it is also badly affecting a small number of people.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Awkward, Google put out a blog in June about teenagers phoning up orgs and getting access to their databases by asking for access.. and yesterday updated it to say they also got owned by the same kids. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/voice-phishing-data-extortion

I was presenting this week's episode of Tech Life on the BBC World Service

- What happened to DeepSeek? @lilyjamali.bsky.social reports

- AI2027: Is this how AI might destroy humanity? @joetidy.bsky.social reports

- Alasdair Keane interviews Volvo’s tech lead

📻 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Grok’s ‘spicy’ video setting instantly made me Taylor Swift nude deepfakes I didn’t even ask it to take her clothes off.

Grok’s ‘spicy’ video setting instantly made me Taylor Swift nude deepfakes. From The Verge
www.theverge.com/report/71897...

Perplexity accused of scraping websites that explicitly blocked AI scraping | TechCrunch Internet giant Cloudflare says it detected Perplexity crawling and scraping websites, even after customers had added technical blocks telling Perplexity not to scrape their pages.

Perplexity accused of scraping websites that explicitly blocked AI scraping. Cloudflare says it observed the AI startup ignore blocks and hide its crawling and scraping activities. I have also seen evidence of this from another firm recently. techcrunch.com/2025/08/04/p...

Every time I use qTox chat I marvel at the logo. Is it the cleanest, smartest logo ever created? Shame it's wasted on cyber criminals who seem to be the only people that use the software!

YouTube video by BBC World Service AI2027: Is this how AI might destroy humanity? - BBC World Service

AI2027: Is this how AI might destroy humanity? Ever since I read the AI2027 prediction I’ve not stopped thinking about it and it’s become more prescient. So, as an experiment, I made this video illustrating the scenario using text > video AI tools.(A first for BBC News!) youtu.be/1UufaK3pQMg?...

Two girls shot in Gaza - BBC pieces together what happened and looks at dozens more child shootings Layan and Mira were killed in proximity to IDF soldiers - the Israeli military says intentional harm to civilians is prohibited and their cases will be examined by the authorities.

I try not to let myself cry at news stories but this is one of the saddest and most tragic things I have ever watched. From my colleague @stephaniehegarty.bsky.social and Woody Morris. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Minnesota gov calls National Guard after St Paul cyberattack : 'This was a deliberate, coordinated, digital attack'

Minnesota governor calls in the troops after St Paul cyberattack. Governor Tim Walz has activated the state's National Guard and declared a state of emergency in response to a cyberattack on the city of Saint Paul. This could be a first in cyber? www.theregister.com/2025/07/30/m...

Yes I think Chrome doesn't like it as it's not HTTP. And my bbc intra doens't like it as it is a new site plus that. Yes the postcode is for your local MP.

Someone has created a website that allows you to create a spoof Drivers' Licence of your local MP to fool age verification on adult sites. The irony is that the site asks you for your postcode and is flagged up by my browser and intranet as potentially unsafe/ able to steal personal data.

Remarkable moment here. Sky News reporter @jamesmatthewsky.bsky.social booed and jeered for asking Trump a perfectly legit and important question about Gaza. Seems like people have forgotten Trump is the President of the US and not a pro-am golfer

Aeroflot: Pro-Ukraine hacker group claims cyber-attack The Kremlin says reports of a cyber-attack on Russia's national carrier Aeroflot are

Pro-Ukraine hacker group claims Aeroflot cyber-attack. Russia's national airline cancelled dozens of flights after hackers struck the carrier's IT systems. A rare example of one of these regular 'hacktivist' attacks having an immediate and verifiable impact www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

VPNs top App Store charts as UK age verification kicks in Experts say free versions of such apps or services may carry potential security and privacy risks.

4,000 comments on @livmcmahon.bsky.social 's write up of the surge in VPN use in the UK after age checks begin on adult sites. My favourite one: "This was always doomed to fail. Focus on education and prevention, because you aren't going to outsmart a horny teenager." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hah! That explains why I couldn’t find it. SUCH a good idea though. Shame it has been overlooked as an option.

why is this not common knowledge!?

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I wasn't asked by Twitter to view some NSFW content (for research) and thought there might be a story. Then I realised that my account is nearly 20 years old anyway...! Twitter doesn't need a haggard selfie to know I am OLD!

A new era for the internet today. Age verification is here. We've been talking about this in the UK for years but so strange to see it happen. For those wondering - I am opting to do selfie check instead of bank card/Passport/ Drivers Licence as it seems to the least bad option in terms of privacy

US woman jailed for 8yrs for stealing identities to give North Koreans IT jobs. Christina Chapman admitted to stealing the identities of 68 US citizens, then running a laptop farm from her home to help North Koreans work for 300 separate companies.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The economics of superintelligence If Silicon Valley’s predictions are even close to being accurate, expect unprecedented upheaval

The Economist Leader column on the unstoppable and potentially dangerous race to artificial superintelligence: 'Humanity may find its intelligence surpassed. It will still need wisdom.' www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

(I share this as an insight into the work people don't see. Sometimes choosing what not to report on is as important as what we choose to report.)

Being a reporter can be a grind. So many stories have fallen through at the final stages lately. You get all excited about a scoop. Plan it, pitch it, write it. Then the facts don't add up so you spike it. 2025 has been particularly bad for some weird reason. Weeks of effort that come to nothing.

So crowded. And every company and org seems to have one now too

There are soooo many podcasts now. I used to think that pods are the new blogs. But it's dawned on me that the barrier to entry to make a podcast is way lower. Crafting a blog takes time, writing skills and editing. Firing up a mic and chatting for hours does not. Bring back to humble blog?

How BBC investigation led to Apple removing AI 'nudify' apps

A story I did a few months ago is today the third most watched on BBC News site. My investigation into AI Nudify apps being advertised on TikTok. Sometimes news cycles can give stories a second life. But it also shows, sadly, that the problem has not gone away at all. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

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