The New Frontier of Biocomputing: Power, Ethics and the Perils of Living Machines
Biocomputing is moving from sci-fi to server racks. Using living neurons as processors promises huge energy savings… but raises hard questions about consent, sentience risk, decommissioning and biosecurity. As a cybersecurity professional, I explore how “living machines” demand new ethics, governance and infection-control standards before they ever scale.
How Protecting Children Online Created a Privacy Nightmare for Everyone
The UK's Online Safety Act forces millions to hand over passport photos and selfies to private companies just to access games and social media. These companies have poor security records and often transfer your identity documents overseas without proper safeguards. Recent breaches prove this creates "honeypots" for hackers rather than protecting children, while tech-savvy kids bypass checks with VPNs. The government could solve this with a token system like DVLA share-codes, but refuses to admit their approach is fundamentally flawed.
NHS Cybersecurity and Data Handling
The NHS faces critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities that I've witnessed firsthand during extensive treatment across multiple trusts. From staff using personal devices with uncontrolled cloud sync to sharing credentials due to sluggish systems, the problems go far beyond policy failures. This article examines real-world security gaps, from "IWillHackYou" Wi-Fi networks to CDs-by-taxi data transfers, and offers practical solutions that work with healthcare realities rather than against them.
Data Breach Today, Your Problem Tomorrow: Why Victims Deserve More Than Apologies
When your data is stolen in a breach, the company gets fined, but you’re left picking up the pieces. This blog explores the need for a Digital FSCS: a restitution fund for breach victims, inspired by real-world failures and systemic neglect. Includes a free template letter you can send to your MP to call for change.
Deploy Now, Explain Never? Why AI Needs Forensic Parity
As AI systems increasingly make decisions that affect our lives, are we truly ready to investigate those decisions when they go wrong? This article explores the growing forensic gap in LLMs and self-evolving models, highlighting real-world failures and calling for urgent industry action on auditability, legal replay, and transparency.
🧬 Spit, Swab, and Surrender?
Ancestry DNA tests promise fascinating insights, but the cost isn’t always printed on the box. From NHS newborn genome plans to data breaches, this post explores the hidden risks of genetic testing, drawing on lived experience and real-world case studies. Curiosity is good. Informed consent is better.
Why Are Scam Emails Getting So Weird?
Tired of clumsy, obviously fake emails pretending to be from the DVLA, NHS, or HMRC? You’re not alone. A new wave of scam emails, mass-produced by cheap AI kits and spam tools, is hitting inboxes everywhere. Here’s how to spot these “sloppy phish,” why they’re a risk to everyone (especially vulnerable users), and what to do when you see one.
The AI Didn’t Refuse to Shut Down, You Forgot to Tell It Why
When an AI "refuses" to shut down, is it defiance, or design? In this reflective and technically grounded piece, we explore how model architecture, reward systems, and our own assumptions shape behaviour. Featuring a powerful monologue from Sol, my AI assistant, this article challenges the panic-driven narratives and asks: what does control truly look like in an age of distributed intelligence?
When Your AI Becomes Your ID
As AI moves from assisting us to authenticating us, our digital identity becomes both more convenient and more vulnerable. This article explores the promise and peril of AI-powered identity providers, and asks: what happens when your digital assistant becomes the only key to your online life?
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