Covid-19 lockdown measures meant that many schools around the world had to close their doors. Although for many this meant turning to technology and the virtual classroom, for those without access to the internet, this limited their access to education, threatening to further exacerbate existing social divides. In response, Swedish telecommunication company Ericsson has partnered with UNICEF to help map school connectivity in 35 countries by the end of 2023.

Angered by the addition of fact-checking links to two of his own recent Tweets, President Trump is threatening to make social media companies legally liable for the content posted on their platforms – but the real debate is about censorship and bias. US President Donald Trump has promised a new executive order to make social media platforms legally responsible for the veracity of their users’ posts.

Infostealers were the most common type of malware in attachments sent in a Covid-themed email in the first half of the year. According to Finnish cybersecurity company F-Secure, 33% of malware sent between January and June were infostealers, which are designed to steal sensitive and confidential information, such as passwords.

Two thirds of people would consider undertaking some form of human augmentation, research by Kaspersky has revealed. Research commissioned by cybersecurity company explores the potential of human augmentation and examines how the “underexplored or even sensationalised” technology is perceived.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a security alert to the education sector warning that cybercriminals are looking to target schools, colleges and universities with cyberattacks as students return after the summer. The NCSC, which is a part of GCHQ, said it has issued the alert following a recent spike in ransomware attacks. 

IBM has revealed an ambitious quantum computing roadmap, which includes building a 1,121-qubit machine in 2023. The tech giant already has 27 and 65 qubit computers – one of the units used to measure computing power – in operation. IBM plans to release a 127-qubit machine, known as Eagle, in 2021. The following year it aims to achieve 433 qubits with a machine called Osprey. Beyond 2023 its long-term plan is to build a 1 million qubit quantum computer.

The UK Space Agency has today announced seven projects that have received a share of £1m funding to combat space debris using sensors or artificial intelligence (AI). Space debris is a growing and serious problem, with the risk of collision increasing as growing numbers of satellites are deployed. The funding is designed to help the UK tackle the issue as it increases its presence in space, and is joined by an announcement of a joint initiative on the issue from the UK Space Agency and Ministry of Defence.

The UK Home Office is assessing how drones could be used by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) in the place of helicopters for aerial police work. The NPAS carried out an initial evaluation of the use of remotely piloted aircraft for public safety during trials by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The trials focused on search and rescue missions but also included a series of simulated police aviation scenarios that would currently be undertaken by the UK’s existing fleet of police helicopters and aircraft.

The UK unemployment rate has risen to 4.1%, prompting calls for the government and industry to put digital skills at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery. In the three months to July, the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in the UK in two years, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.