Catch up on this week\u2019s round-up of the latest hosting and tech news. Here\u2019s what we\u2019ve uncovered since our last edition.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, announced the rollout of contact tracing in England, news has come to light of scammers taking advantage of the initiative. Posing as contract tracers, they send text messages to people telling them they have come into contact with an infected person and then directing them to click on a link where they are asked to give personal information.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
These forms of phishing scams have been rife in the US, where contact tracing has been in use for several weeks. The advice, as with all forms of phishing scam, is to look carefully for badly written English, especially in text messages or emails which ask for personal information and contain links.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
DevOps tool provider, GitLab, recently took a novel approach to finding out where its phishing weaknesses lie by conducting a fake scam of its remote employees. Workers were sent an email asking them to click on a link from where they would be able to upgrade their security credentials. However, instead of being sent to gitlab.com, the users were sent to a fake clone site, gitlab.company, which was created especially for the investigation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Worryingly, 20% of employees logged into the fake site which, if it had been a genuine phishing attempt, would have handed the email addresses and passwords over to the scammers. Overall, 34% clicked on the link and visited the fake site, with 59% of those who clicked typing in their credentials. A mere 12% reported the email to the company\u2019s security department.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Surprisingly, GitLab\u2019s failure rate is much less than the typical 35% of employees who mistakenly fall for phishing scams. It\u2019s a concern that all companies need to address.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Lexus, like many other businesses, is putting the customer experience at the core of its marketing. Teaming up with Widewail Engage, it aims to make online experiences just as satisfying as driving one of its luxury cars.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Engage solution enables Lexus and its dealerships to monitor customer reviews and manage responses to them in real-time in order to improve reputation. With research showing that nearly 60% of customers will only purchase from businesses with a star rating of 4 and above, it also wants to optimise positive reviews so that they rank better in search results.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The company sees reviews and social media content as key ways to engage customers and improve rankings, and hope this can influence more customers to make contact with dealerships and buy their cars.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
As businesses across the UK plan for reopening, keeping employees safe will be a major priority and obligation. The Employee Screening Solution app, developed by mHealthCoach in the US, is designed to make this much more manageable by enabling daily employee screening for coronavirus symptoms.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Before leaving for work, employees are required to answer a range of screening questions on the app. Those the software deems free from symptoms or not at risk are then issued with a QR code which they will need to enter the workplace. Those found to be at risk can immediately inform employers via the app and are given access to resources, such as testing sites.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The company, meanwhile, can view screening data in real-time and is provided with robust records to ensure it can keep the workforce safe. The data also enables the company to make management decisions when absence impacts operations. For many companies, this may be part of the new normal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
A new and particularly nasty form of malware that can infect any Android app and even infect all apps simultaneously, has been discovered. StrandHogg 2.0 can assume the identity of a legitimate app in order to remain undetectable and can access texts and photos, steal logins, record calls, track GPS movements, watch through the camera and listen via the microphone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Although the malware can\u2019t infect users of version 10 of the Android operating system, the 91% of customers using older versions should update to the latest firmware as soon as possible. Google has patched the vulnerability and expects to roll out the update this month. As always, people are advised to only download legitimate apps from Google Play.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n