Future Intelligence (Fi) is an internet-based news site and think tank, that produces high quality reports, videos, audio and podcasts that is also responsible for the technology radio programme PassW0rd, an hour-long monthly examination of the ramifications of technology broadcast in the South-East of England on Resonance FM on the second Wednesday of every month.
Fi is also responsible for the annual AI conference hosted by the Institution of Engineering Technology at its central London Thames-side headquarters in Savoy Place.
Fi and its sister organisation the Cyber Security Research Institute (CSRI) works by producing original, independent and insightful material into the issues thrown up by technology and bringing them to the attention of politicians, opinion-formers and decision makers to ensure that technology works in the interests of humanity and not to its detriment. This work has been sponsored by some of the leading technology companies in Europe, the UK and the USA, ranging from security companies like McAfee and F-Secure to telecommunication companies like BT and the leading global law firm Cooley. The value of the work of Fi and the CSRI has been recognised by the UK’s House of Lords and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre.
Reports and videos produced by Fi have achieved significant results and gained considerable media attention and promoted a positive brand profile for the companies that have sponsored our work:
Hard Drive investigations – Our investigations into the data lost on hard drives by our sister organisation the Cyber Security Research Institute have all resulted in significant media attention. The first study found Sir Paul McCartney’s account details in a treasure trove of documents from the wealth management arm of investment bank Morgan Grenfell which made it onto the front page of the Daily Express under the headline: ‘Secrets of McCartney Bank Cash Leaked,’ and got top billing on the Channel 4 news bulletin. The story is still mentioned when the subject of data loss comes up at privacy conferences. The CSRI’s second investigation into the loss of data: ‘company secrets sold on E-Bay’ was sponsored by BT and according to research carried out by the company was worth £350,000 in publicity to BT and was applauded by GetSafeOnline.
CSRI’s next investigation into hard drives ‘Ghosts from the machines’ was sponsored by the Asset Disposal and Information Security Alliance and once again received national coverage.
Our final hard drive investigation took hard drives obtained from around the globe which were then analysed in Australia, the UK and the US and once again yielded huge amounts of sensitive data, chief of which was information on the launch codes and staff working on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), a critical part of the US defence shield against nuclear attack. Among other information found in the survey, which analysed over 300 drives bought from online auction sites and garage sales from France, Germany, the UK and the US, were details of financial transactions involving billions of dollars to finance high interest rate deals to Nigeria, Venezuela and Tunisia. Data that included correspondence with a member of the Federal Reserve Board and also indicated that there were banking investigations into some of the deals, one of which involved $50bn.
The survey, conducted on behalf of BT and Sims Recycling Solutions by Longwood University in the US, Glamorgan University and the Cyber Security Research Institute in the UK and Edith Cowan University in Australia, also found confidential company information and personal details from companies including the Ford Motor Company, the interior design and clothing firm Laura Ashley, the German Embassy in Paris, Nokia, the Edinburgh-based Scottish law firm Henderson Boyd Jackson (HBJ), Swindon Council in the UK, Lanarkshire NHS Trust in Scotland, and a number of UK schools, as well as information from personal drives from around the world.
Wi-Fi research – In 2014 the CSRI also carried out ground-breaking research into the safety of public Wi-Fi sponsored by the cybersecurity company F-Secure. The project demonstrated the remarkable lengths that people will go to obtain Wi-Fi access and how insecure that can be. Dubbed ‘the Herod Clause’ the report ‘Tainted love: How Wi-Fi betrays us’ and accompanying video went viral on the internet achieving international coverage in both broadcast and print media as well as on innumerable websites, as Rebecca Kiely F-Secure’s PR manager for EMEA and USA put it: “The Herod Clause is one of F-Secure’s most successful campaigns, and it all stemmed from an idea from Peter Warren. His in-depth knowledge of the subject, plus ability to pull together an elite team to drive the project forward, meant that we were in a safe pair of hands. The videos got over 250,000 hits in the first week, and we are still receiving coverage of the experiment four years later – the results speak for themselves.”
The Herod Clause has now been adopted as a legal term, and the report was endorsed by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre.
Think tank reports – Fi carries out in-depth projects on behalf of organisations such as the European think-tank Netopia. Its report ‘Can We Make the Digital World Ethical?‘ was presented to the European Parliament. We were subsequently asked to present the report to the French Senate. We were also asked for copies of the report by the UK Labour Party, The UK Liberal Democratic Party and the UK Green Party
It is also an associate member of the Australian cyber defence and international affairs think tank Sage International, where Fi provides information on cyber and AI.
Conferences –
‘Living and working in an AI world,’ May 24, 2017 organised for Cooley in association with the Institution of Engineering Technology
‘This AI Life: Can AI give the kiss of life to the UK NHS’ October 3, 2018 organised for Cooley in association with the Institution Of Engineering Technology
Main number 0207-100-1389
Editor
Peter Warren – peter@futureintelligence.co.uk
+44 7933-670212 mobile
Peter Warren is an award-winning investigative journalist with a specialism in computer security.
Thomas James – Operations Director: tom@futureintelligence.co.uk
Jane Whyatt – Broadcast Editor, Jane is an award-winning BBC producer and former head of journalism education at Westminster University, she has overall responsibility for the PassW0rd Radio show on ResonanceFM. To contact Jane, email her at: jane.whyatt@futureintelligence.co.uk
Research team
Blue Buffery – Radio and podcast producer. Blue produces Future Intelligence’s PassW0rd radio show on London’s Resonance FM – described by ‘The Guardian’ as the capital’s best radio station – she also produces bespoke podcasts based on interviews with industry experts and thought leaders: blue.buffery@futureintelligence.co.uk
Bradford Davis – Cyber security researcher and internet culture expert. Brad works on online investigations on the internet and the dark web producing original material for Future Intelligence and the Cyber Security Research Institute, newsletters, websites and conference debates: bradford.davis@futureintelligence.co.uk
Commentators and expert panel
Colin Duffy – Telecoms: info@futureintelligence.co.uk
Colin, a former board member of BT’s Internet and New Media Division, is an expert on the computer games industry. Memorably, for a short period of time a dotcom millionaire and currently CEO of the business telecoms specialist Voipfone, Colin sits on the telecoms’ industry body ITSPA.
Len Hynds – Crime: info@futureintelligence.co.uk
Len, who rose to the rank of Chief Constable is the former head of the UK’s first National High Tech Crime Unit, which he set up with the aid of Neil Barrett, which was notably successful in that it managed to sell the concept of cyber police to a sceptical business community.
Professor Andrew Jones – Forensics: Andy is a former Army Captain and an expert on computer forensics he currently holds the chair in forensics at Kustar University, while on sabbatical from his post as head of computer security research at BT’s Martlesham Heath Labs. Andy can also be reached on info@futureintelligence.co.uk
Richard Pearson – Transport and Alternative Energy: info@futureintelligence.co.uk
Richard is one of the UK’s leading engine designers and an expert on the environment and alternative energy sources
Patrick Tyrell – Defence: info@futureintelligence.co.uk
Pat is a former Royal Navy Commander and is currently a director of Vale Atlantic.
Anneloes Smitsman – Games Editor: Dr. Anneloes Smitsman, Ph.D., LLM, is a futurist, systems scientist, serial-entrepreneur, and award-winning pioneer in human development and systems change. She is the founder and CEO of EARTHwise Centre, architect of the EARTHwise Constitution for a Planetary Civilization, creator of the Elowyn: Quest of Time game, and lead author of the Participatory Framework for creating a global AGI Constitution. For more information, visit – https://www.earthwise.global/anneloes-smitsman – press releases can be sent to Anneloes at info@futureintelligence.co.uk
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