Category: Technology

Fake Online Reviews Investigation

Posted on by Rob Burdett

A recent investigation as part of a BBC 5 Live programme has led to the underground trade in fake online reviews coming under the spotlight.

What Reviews and Why Does It Matter?

The kinds of reviews of products and services that can allegedly be purchased and displayed online in order to influence purchasing decisions are reported to be those on sites such as Trustpilot and Amazon.

Three quarters of UK adults use online review websites, and the government’s Competition and Markets Authority estimates that such reviews potentially influence £23 billion of UK customer spending every year.

Younger consumers are thought to be particularly influenced by the reviews of others / their peers when it comes to purchasing decisions.

The key motivator for businesses buying fake reviews is, orf course, to rank top for your product because this can lead to a lot of extra sales.

How Bad Is The Problem?

A Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Study shows that almost half of UK adults believe they have seen fake reviews, and according to US analysts, as many as half of the reviews for some products posted on international websites like Amazon may be potentially unreliable

What’s Been Happening?

According to the recent BBC investigation of the problem, buyers are offered full refunds on products bought on Amazon in exchange for positive reviews. This practice is believed to be something that was driven underground back in 2016 after Amazon introduced measures designed to prohibit ‘incentivised reviews’ i.e. businesses offering customers free goods in exchange for positive reviews.

The BBC 5 Live team investigators have reported that they were offered deals for Amazon reviews, and were able to use eBay to purchase a false 5-star review on Trustpilot.
Denied

In response to the findings of the BBC investigation, Amazon has stated that it does not permit reviews in exchange for compensation of any kind and that customers and Marketplace sellers who don’t follow review guidelines are subject to action including potential termination of their account.

Trustpilot has said that it uses specialist software to screens reviews against 100’s of data points around the clock in order to automatically identify and remove fakes, and that it has a zero-tolerance policy towards any misuse.

E-bay has also stated that the sale of fake reviews is banned from its platform, and that any listings will be removed.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The potential rewards of more sales an profits, getting a competitive edge, and boosting brand awareness are powerful motivators for some businesses who may feel that when weighed up against the lack of any serious penalties, buying fake reviews may appear to be worth the risk. For the vast majority of review-reading customers, however, this is a deceptive practice that may cause them to purchase products that do not meet their needs or expectations.

The proliferation of fake reviews also undermines public trust in reviews, and this can be particularly unfair for those companies who have worked hard to get genuine positive reviews through simply providing superior products and service levels.

There is an argument that more preventative action needs to be taken by these platforms to stop fake reviews being published in the first place, and that stronger penalties are needed for those caught selling fake reviews.

Sadly, many commentators believe that we are currently in a ‘post-truth era’ where many people get their news from social media and where we are becoming conditioned to put less emphasis on the need for objective facts. It is with this backdrop that the trade in fake reviews has been allowed to grow.

There is still a strong argument, however, that there is no substitute for striving to provide quality products and great customer service as these strengthen a business anyway, ensure that reviews are positive, and should ultimately win over short-term deceptive practices.

Online Dating Via Facebook

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has announced that Facebook, the world’s largest online social network, will soon be providing an online dating service, thereby putting it in competition with the likes of Match Group Inc.

On The Cards

Bearing in mind Facebook’s origin as a college dating website and Mark Zuckerberg’s early ‘Facemash’ program, and the fact that Facebook is known to have been wanting to move into online dating for at least 10 years, this move has been on the cards.

Why Now?

There are several key reasons why Facebook has chosen to actually make the move into the online dating world. These include:

  • The need to make people spend longer on the Facebook platform (and not on other platforms). For example, time spent by Facebook users on the platform fell by 50 million hours a day in 2017.
  • The need to attract more young people to the platform.
  • The commercial attractiveness of the booming and growing dating market.
  • The fact that there are 200 million people on Facebook that list themselves as single.
  • The fact that Facebook already holds many facets of information about users that could be used for matching and dating purposes e.g. interests, local events they could attend.

How Will It Work?

The proposed platform is an optional feature that users will be able to use by clicking on a heart shape at the top-right corner of the Facebook app, and setting up a dating profile. The profile will be based on a first name, won’t be visible to friends and users who aren’t on the dating feature, and won’t show up in the News Feed.

Once set up, users can browse events in their local and groups that match their interests, select ‘unlock’ for dating, and then be able to see the profiles of other potential dates who have unlocked that surface. These profiles will show a few photos plus some basic information about potential dates.

The system will not work using the “swipe” left or right on potential matches like Tinder, but there will be two buttons for “pass” and “interested.”

Users will be able to start a conversation with a potential match by commenting on one of their photos, but the conversations will be text-only, thereby eliminating the risk of unsolicited nude photos being sent. Conversations will take place in a special inbox that’s separate from Messenger and WhatsApp.

Security

In the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has been quick to stress that the service has been built and will operate with an emphasis on privacy.

Not Just Hook-Ups

Facebook has also said that the new dating service is intended to be a standalone feature that will focus on legitimate long-term relationships, rather than just hook-ups. There are already many stories of couples who have met via the normal Facebook platform.

Dating Service Competitors – Stock Value Falls

Shortly after Mark Zuckerberg announced the move into the dating arena, and even though Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg said that she was flattered by Facebook’s entrance into its space, Match’s stock traded down about 22%. Match is the owner of mobile dating apps Tinder and OkCupid and describes itself (on its website) as the “global leader” in online dating.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

If it wasn’t for the recent scandal about data sharing with Cambridge Analytica and the lack of trust that it has created, Facebook would be almost perfectly position to seriously and quickly take on the current online dating giants such as Match. It remains to be seen, therefore, how quickly Facebook users forget or are willing to throw caution to the wind with the promise of powerful motivators and positive reinforcement in the form of dates and possibly, a love match.

Some competitors, such as Bumble, have seen Facebook’s move as an opportunity rather than just a threat, and Bumble has reportedly reached out to Facebook to explore ways to collaborate.

Google Chrome Leads Digital Certificate Clean Up

Posted on by Rob Burdett

The Google Chrome Browser is being equipped with transparency logs that are designed to prevent potentially costly digital certificate errors by Certificate Authorities (CAs) and to guard against cyber-criminals issuing their own certificates.

Stopping Misuse

The move has been designed to improve all-round transparency, and to better protect both users and companies from becoming victims of certificate misuse.

Triggers A Warning Message If Not Logged

The change means that all CAs must now log every digital certificate they issue in certificate transparency logs so that any website with a secure socket layer (SSL) or transport layer security (TLS) certificate that isn’t logged will trigger a browser warning. The warning will tell users the website’s certificate doesn’t comply with Google Chrome’s transparency policy, and therefore, may not be safe.

In fact, any part of a website that’s served over an https connection that doesn’t comply with Google’s policy will not load and will display an error in Chrome DevTools.

The change applies to all TLS server certificates issued after 30 April, 2018.

Driving Positive Change

With Google Chrome reportedly being used by 60% of web users, this move is being seen by some as Google using its market dominance to drive better practices. It is expected, therefore, that most other major browsers will follow Google’s example.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This is really just an industry change that primarily affects parties issuing the certificates e.g. a Certificate Authority. The change isn’t retroactive and so isn’t going to affect SSL certificates that were issued but not logged before April 30, 2018. This change will not (immediately) directly affect end users, although the clean-up effect that it may have on the whole business around certificates, and in thwarting some of the activities of cyber criminals could contribute towards a more secure internet generally. For example, cyber-criminals have been able to target internet users by finding ways to issue their own certificates.

The change should also give businesses a way to take action to protect themselves and their customers against any potential damage done to their business by mis-issuance of certificates.

This story should also be a reminder that from June, if your website doesn’t have a secure certificate i.e. if it doesn’t have https in the URL, Chrome will post a security warning to visitors which could mean that you lose enquiries and sales. Not having a secure certificate could also potentially mean that your website could suffer in the search engine rankings.

TSB Computer Meltdown – Problems Nearly 2 Weeks On

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Customers of TSB are reportedly still experiencing difficulties with internet and mobile banking services nearly 2 weeks after problems first began.

What Happened?

TSB, which was acquired by Spanish bank Sabadell in 2015, tried to fully migrate its computer systems from its old Lloyds Bank systems to its new core banking system, known as Proteo4UK. Proteo4UK is basically a version of Sabadell’s in-house core banking platform Proteo which has been designed for TSB.

The system had already been rolled out to staff in November 2017, and the full rollout to customers was also supposed to have happened in November but was put back until April to avoid potential confusion of the expected interest rate rise.

Why Migrate?

The expected benefits behind TSB’s decision to migrate were cost savings through not having to pay £160 million per year to Lloyds Bank for hosting, and the opportunity to be able to implement its own customer-facing systems offering digital banking services.

TSB had already launched a mobile app for Android and iOS devices to enable customers to use banking services via the new system in a convenient way, and was in the process of offering iPhone X users the opportunity to use their faces as identification.

Meltdown

Unfortunately for 1.9 million TSB customers, the bank staff, and TSB’s reputation, the migration did not go to plan and resulted in what some commentators have described as a ‘meltdown’ of its banking systems.

Some of the problems experienced by customers have included not being able to access their own money, no access to any mobile and online services, problems with direct debits, and amounts of money appearing and disappearing. It was even reported that one customer was mistakenly credited with £13,000. TSB has also been deluged, understandably, with complaints, with TSB staff facing hostility, and the reputation of the bank taking a battering in the media.

Response

Several apologies later, and even though TSB’s CEO Paul Pester announced in BBC Radio 4 interview that he would take direct control from the banks’ platform, and that he’d drafted in a team of global experts from IBM, and although the mobile app is now reportedly fixed, some customers are still reported to be experiencing problems. Some have appeared in tv news reports telling of their experiences and of their fears that important bills may not have been paid as a result of the system’s problems.

Treasury Committee Wants Answers

Executives from TSB and parent company Sabadell have been asked to appear before MPs to respond to questions and give evidence to the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday 2nd May over the ongoing IT system outage.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

It is well known that many banks run on old systems which have led to glitches in the past i.e. customers not being able to access their money, and have been the cause of worries about security. The case of TSB illustrates how the company had good commercial intentions as a challenger bank in migrating its systems to reduce costs and meet the modern customer’s digital expectations, but ended up creating a PR disaster for itself. It is thought that the problems could cost the bank millions in lost customers, compensation, and damage to the brand.

Some commentators have criticised the bank for mismanaging the migration and for focusing too much on creating fancy apps rather than focusing on just getting the migration to happen as smoothly as possible.

It has also been suggested that, if joining or switching to a new bank, customers could do worse than to ask their proposed new bank what their plans are in terms of core banking platforms, whether they have any major IT projects planned, and how up to date is the core banking system is.

The problems with TSB’s banking systems will undoubtedly have impacted many businesses as customers were unable to access funds or to spend as they normally would, or to pay existing agreements, and this all adds up to extra costs, reduced profits, and stress for business owners.

This story is also a reminder to businesses that unforeseen and potentially costly IT problems can happen, particularly with cyber-crime activity, and that having a good Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan is important.

Tech Tip – Checking Your Facebook Connected Apps

Posted on by Rob Burdett

In the light of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal where a quiz app was used to share personal details without the consent of users, you can take action boost your own security by checking what connected Facebook Apps you have. Here’s how:

– Log into Facebook.
– Pull down the toggle/arrow at the right top of the Facebook screen to reach the account details.
– Choose ‘Settings’ from the list.
– On the General Account Settings page, scroll down and select ‘Apps and Websites’ in the left-hand menu.
– The next page shows the Facebook applications that have been given account access, e.g. fun apps, and productivity apps (e.g. Hootsuite)
– If you’re not happy about a particular connected app having access, you can remove the app entirely by checking the box to the right and selecting ‘Remove’.
– If you select one or more apps and click remove, another dialog box will be shown with an additional checkbox option referring to previous activity e.g. prior posts made using the app.
– Once removed, an app or website will no longer have access to your information, yet they may still retain previously shared information.

Martin Lewis Fights Facebook In Court

Posted on by Rob Burdett

MoneySavingExpert’s (MSE) founder and TV consumer champion Martin Lewis (OBE) has commenced UK High Court proceedings against Facebook to sue the tech giant for defamation over a series of fake adverts bearing his name.

What Happened?

Mr Lewis alleges that 50 fake ads bearing his name appeared on the Facebook social media platform over the space of a year, and that the fact that the ads were not from him, and could / did (in some cases) direct consumers to scammer sites containing false information may have caused serious damage to his reputation, and did cause some people to lose money.

Mr Lewis prepared for the first day of the court action against Facebook (on Monday 23rd April) by giving an interview to BBC radio explaining why he was taking the action, and offering to stop the court action altogether if Facebook ‘took responsibility’ for what he believes were its damaging actions against his reputation.

It is alleged that the adverts featured Mr Lewis’s face alongside endorsements that Mr Lewis says that he did not make. Mr Lewis has publicly stated many times that he does not appear in any adverts, therefore, any advert bearing his name must be a fake.

Long Fight

Mr Lewis has stated in a press release about the case that he has been fighting to stop the adverts from appearing on Facebook over the last year and that, even when they were reported to Facebook, many of the ads were left up for days or weeks, and when they are taken down, scammers were able to new, nearly identical campaigns very soon afterwards.

Mr Lewis is personally suing Facebook (not on behalf of MSE), and has published details of the legal action on the MSE website, saying “I will issue high court proceedings against Facebook, to try and stop all the disgusting repeated fake adverts from scammers it refuses to stop publishing with my picture, name and reputation.”

Mostly ‘Get-Rich-Quick Schemes’

The fake adverts are reported to have been mostly for ‘get-rich-quick schemes’ e.g. titled ‘Bitcoin code’ or ‘Cloud Trader’, which are reported to be fronts for binary trading firms based outside the EU. Martin Lewis has stated online that binary trading is a financially dangerous, near-certain money-loser, which the regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) strongly warns against.

Not For His Own Financial Benefit

Although Mr Lewis has said that he is seeking exemplary and substantial damages, he has said that this is because he wants to show Facebook that they can’t just pay damages as a kind of cost of business and then simply “carry on regardless”.
Mr Lewis has said that any money he does receive in damages from the court case will go not to him, but to anti-scam charities.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This case is compelling for many reasons. Firstly, it appears clear from what Mr Lewis has said publicly about his side of things that the fake adverts are bound to be damaging to a person whose public role is to fight for consumer rights, and is reported to have been damaging to other innocent victims of the scam ads e.g. the lady who reportedly had over £100,000 taken from her by the ad scammers. It’s in everyone’s interest that the activities of scammers are stopped.

Secondly, it will be interesting to see how successful Martin Lewis personally will be in taking on a rich tech giant that some commentators may see as being almost behaving as though it were above the law of some of the countries that it operates in. Since Martin Lewis is a consumer ‘champion’ and influencer when it comes to many financial products, it is likely that he will have a great deal of public sympathy and media attention which could give him extra bargaining power.

Thirdly, one key aspect of this case is which businesses Facebook is actually in rather than what business it thinks it’s in. For example, Mr Lewis is arguing that Facebook claims to be a platform not a publisher – and yet the problem has arisen not just from posts on a web forum, but from Facebook being paid to publish, promulgate and promote what may be fraudulent enterprises i.e. acting like a publisher. If Mr Lewis wins the case, it may be that Facebook will need to re-examine whether or not it now has to see itself as a publisher, and may be forced to change its system.

WhatsApp Raises Age To 16 For GDPR

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service is raising its minimum age in Europe to 16 to comply with GDPR which comes into force on May 25th.

Was 13

Up until now, the minimum age has been 13, and that minimum age will remain for the rest of the world, in line with its Facebook parent company. WhatsApp, founded in 2009, has an estimated 1.5 billion users.

Just Asking

Users will be asked to confirm their minimum age by the new WhatsApp Ireland Ltd in the next few weeks, when they will be prompted to agree to new terms of service and a privacy policy. Some critics have pointed out that even though users will be asked if they are 16 or over, it is unclear from the information that the service holds about users how their age can be accurately checked and verified and, therefore, how the new rule can be enforced.

Based on US Law Until Now

The age 13 limit up until now has been based upon the US law “Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule” (Coppa), which bans online services from collecting personal information about younger children. This is why the usage of many other popular social media apps e.g. Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Musical.ly and Reddit are restricted to persons aged 13 and over.

WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook faced criticism after announcing last December that it would be targeting younger children with its ‘Messenger Kids’ service. At the time, Facebook’s primary (stated) motive for the new junior version of its platform was to provide a safer, more age-appropriate version, but some tech and business commentators suggested that it may also be an ideal way for Facebook to recruit its next generation of users, and to capture the attention of 6 to 12-year-olds before Snapchat or a similar social network competitor.

Collecting and Sharing Information

The recent Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal has brought the matter of collecting and sharing of our personal data into sharp focus. WhatsApp, however, has said that the new changes do not mean that it will be asking for any new rights to collect personal information in the agreement it has created for the European Union. WhatsApp says that the goal of the change is simply to explain how they use and protect the limited information they have about users.

As well as the age restriction change, WhatsApp is also, therefore, rolling out a feature with the latest version of the app that allows users to download a report detailing the data that WhatsApp holds on them e.g. the make and model of the device they used, their contacts, their groups and any blocked numbers.

Facebook Nominate

Facebook is also updating its data policy to comely with GDPR which involves asking 13 and 15-year-old users to nominate a parent or guardian to give permission for them to share information on the platform. If they won’t / cannot do so, the young users will not be able to see a fully personalized version of the social media platform.

Also, Facebook’s Instagram is launching a data download tool to provide users with a file containing the photos, comments, archived stories, contacts and any other personal data that they’ve posted to the service in the past.

Twitter Too

Twitter Inc is also changing its privacy policy so that users can view information they share with the micro-blogging service and show how it’s being used, ahead of the introduction of GDPR. Twitter has said that the changes are to make the privacy policy visually clear and easy to use, and to clarify legalistic or technical language.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This story is another clear reminder that the introduction of GDPR is just around the corner as the tech giants, who have more to lose in fines, potential lost customer numbers, and serious reputational damage, make the necessary legal moves to ensure compliance. For Facebook especially, they have faced some very high profile bad publicity this year over their handling and sharing of personal data, so getting their GDPR compliance house in order may be a way to help avoid any further problems.

There is also a very serious ethical element to this story. It is estimated that Facebook has 20 million under-13-year-olds currently using the network, and there may also be a very large number of children using WhatsApp. Parents may understandably have serious concerns about what content children can have access to and, equally importantly, who can have access to children via social networks. Unsuitable material, commercialisation, bullying (or predatory behaviour by some adults) are just some of the issues to consider.

As well as these concerns, governments (such as the UK) are looking to stop end-to-end encryption in WhatsApp, GDPR is just around the corner, Facebook is now facing more tough questions about its Cambridge Analytica links, Martin Lewis (OBE) is taking Facebook to court for defamation and calling for Facebook to take responsibility for its actions … the pressure is now seriously on big social media platforms to make some changes, particularly where EU users are concerned.

Half of UK Manufacturers Hit By Cyber Attacks

Posted on by Rob Burdett

A new report published by manufacturers’ organisation EEF in partnership with insurance firm AIG and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) shows that 48% of UK manufacturers have been subject to a cyber-security incident at some time.

Loss and Disruption

Half of those manufacturing companies who admit to being hit by cyber-criminals have said that the incident(s) caused financial loss or disruption to business.

Challenges

The report highlighted several key challenges that the manufacturing industry faces in making itself less vulnerable to cyber-criminals. These challenges include:

  • The age of equipment and the networked nature of production facilities. Many industrial systems are up to 20 years old and were developed before cyber threats became a big issue. As a result, poorly protected office systems, often the first implemented historically within manufacturing businesses, are particularly vulnerable. Also, a networked building, such as many manufacturing sites, can be hacked and exploited.
  • Many manufacturing companies hold a large amount of classified information e.g. intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets, which makes them targets for (for example) financially motivated, state-sponsored hackers.
  • Having no idea of the nature and size of the risks. 41% of manufacturing companies don’t believe they have access to enough information to assess their true cyber risk, and 12% of manufacturers admit they have no technical or managerial processes in place to even start assessing the real risk.
  • A lack of basic detection that a cyber attack is taking place / has taken place, and a lack of investment in training i.e. 34% do not offer cyber-security training.
  • Feeling that they are not equipped to tackle the risk anyway. For example, 45% are not confident they are prepared with the right tools for the job.
  • A lack of confidence. Although 91% of the 170 UK manufacturing businesses polled are investing in digital technologies, 35% think that cyber vulnerability is inhibiting them from doing so fully.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

For manufacturing businesses facing the very real threat of sophisticated, multi-level attacks, now is not the time to be left with a vulnerable outdated system. Advice from the report includes following the advice of the Government backed ‘Cyber Essentials’ scheme. This includes the 5 security essentials of using a firewall to secure your Internet connection, choosing the most secure settings for your devices and software, controlling who has access to your data and services, protecting yourself from viruses and other malware by using antivirus software, only downloading apps from manufacturer-approved stores, or running apps and programs in an isolated environment, and continually ensuring that operating systems and software are up-to-date and running the latest security patches.

Clearly, manufacturing companies with old systems may need to bite the bullet and invest in more modern, digitised, and well-protected systems. The report also indicates that greater investment in staff training is needed to help them spot and deal with risks, and to avoid the kind of human error that is needed in many modern cyber-attacks e.g. malware / viruses sent by email, phishing, and other social engineering attacks.

Another opportunity for manufacturing companies to boost cyber-security could also come from cyber-insurance. For example, many cyber insurers offer a comprehensive package of pre-loss services to businesses to carry out a cyber health check which could help to highlight gaps in cyber risk management and help identify what security measures should be prioritised.

New Google ‘Chat’ SMS Message Replacement Rollout Begins

Posted on by Rob Burdett

Google has begun the rollout of ‘Chat’, the messaging service that, it is hoped, will replace SMS text messages on Android phones, and bring it into the same ballpark as WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage.

What’s The Problem?

The SMS messaging system for Android phones has suffered over many years from being simply a succession of poorly supported, different apps all using the same basic the short message service (SMS) from the1990s to send text messages over a mobile network. The result has been that none have been particularly popular among android users, who have been envious of the simplicity and ease other messaging services e.g. iPhone that have better features and send messages over the internet instead of using SMS.

New System, New Features

The solution to the problem for Google has been to take many years to develop a whole new messaging system that is based on a standard called the “Universal Profile for Rich Communication Services” (instead of simply making another app), which allows Android users to send messages and image files over a data network.

The new ‘Chat’ service offers many more features such as group texts, videos, typing indicators and read receipts. Since RCS is a communications standard, it will be up to mobile operators to enable the service, but Android will still have SMS to fall back on anyway.

Carrier-Based Service

Chat is a carrier/network-based service (i.e. not a Google-based service), so one of the key ways that Google has gone about making sure that Chat will work is to try to convince as many carriers as possible to take the new standard, and make the Chat services interoperable between carriers.

If you text someone who doesn’t have Chat enabled, or who is not an Android user, your messages will revert back to SMS, in the same way that an iMessage does.

It is thought that Google has done enough work with 50+ carriers to ensure that most of them will enable the use of the Chat service this year, which is handy since the global rollout by Google is already underway.

Au Revoir ‘Allo’

Another indicator of Google’s commitment to getting Chat ‘out there’ is the pausing of its work on its ‘Allo’ messaging service.

Data Plan Instead of SMS

Since Chat messages will be sent over the data network i.e. sent with your data plan instead of your SMS plan, it is expected that charges for messages could be less, although this will be up to the networks.

Security Flaw

One flaw in the Chat service could be the fact that messages are not encrypted, and could, therefore, be a security risk if intercepted.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Business and individual users of Android will be pleased to hear that at last there may be a messaging service that is built-in, allows plenty of modern functionality, and is up there with competing services e.g. WhatsApp and iMessage.

Hopefully, the main networks will support the service as soon as possible, and with messages being sent over the data network the hope is also that costs for the service could be kept at a very reasonable level (depending on the network).

The one question mark for many users may, however, be the lack of encryption of the messages, especially at a time when data security is at the forefront of their mind with the introduction of GDPR next month.

Tech Tip – Send Different File Types With WhatsApp

Posted on by Rob Burdett

These days, many of us use the WhatsApp messaging service as part of our business communications. Thanks to functionality introduced last year, you can now send multiple file types e.g. APK’s, Zip and RAR files using WhatsApp. Here’s how:

– Open your WhatsApp chat thread and tap the Attachment icon.
– Tap on Document from the list of the options.
– Select your file and send it.
– This sends the file in its original size, thereby keeping the quality.
– If you select Gallery in the WhatsApp attachment option, it compresses the size of media (but this can adversely affect its quality).