IT News Round-up June 2021

Here at ICE, we are always aiming to develop new IT solutions whilst also maintaining and tweaking existing ones. We keep an eye out for all breaking technology news. Our regular readers will notice that we do the same for the cruise industry, a sector in which we have worked for over 20 years. Each month we bring you some of the more interesting or important cruise news stories. This month, we have decided to do the same for the world of tech. Here then is our IT News Round-up, June 2021.

Qualcomm Launches New IoT Range

Computer Weekly published this report on the mobile tech giant last week. Qualcomm Technologies have released 7 new chips to boost their existing IT solutions. In particular, the high-end chips will support high-resolution video cameras as well as touchless, smart cart, self-checkout and mobile payment options. Qualcomm have stated that the chips can support activities including:

- Activity analysis
- Edge interaction
- Integrated connectivity
- Object detection
- Personalisation
- Person identification and detection
- Sensor fusion

Top Tip: Be IoT Secure Compliant

Along with eTestware and CRIBB Cyber Security, we make up theICEway ecosystem. CRIBB powers our holistic, security by design approach and is an official certification body. The experts there recently added IoT Secure compliance to their range of security services.

The internet of things is already a hugely significant area of IT. As the story above demonstrates, it will continue to grow and develop. You must therefore ensure that you have the right security frameworks and policies in place, and CRIBB can help.

Football Clubs Embracing Cryptocurrency; Fans Not Convinced

Euro 2020 began last week and so this story from Reuters seemed an apt selection. Manchester City and AC Milan are among several clubs to launch ‘fan tokens’, enabling supporters to pay for exclusive promotions. Other benefits are then likely to follow; for example, fans of Juventus paid for song selections at their stadium.

These measures were embraced to combat the huge financial impact of Covid-19. Stadium attendances were reduced to zero, and many clubs subsequently came up with other forms of raising revenue. For a lot of fans, however, the cost of supporting their team simply became higher.

McDonald’s Data Breached

This story on BBC News revealed another high-profile target for cyber-criminal activity. Cyber-attackers in Taiwan and South Korea managed to obtain customer email and delivery addresses plus phone numbers, along with some employee data.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said that the breach was identified quickly due to the large-scale cyber security investment the company had made.

That notwithstanding, the fact any data at all was compromised is further proof of the need for robust security frameworks and policies.

We would love to hear your thoughts on our IT News Round-up June 2021. For example, what do you think about the many cyber security incidents emerging this year?