It's the year that shouldn't have been and Mercedes are having a tough 2021. What's going on?

A good thing used for bad purposes. Sometimes.

While Cobalt Strike is the market leader, it is far from the only threat assessment tool - and others are even easier for criminals to make use of - on every server, desktop and mobile platform except, it seems, Apple mobiles.

Law enforcement can move fast - when the criminal conduct involves the reputation of governments. Reveals gaping hole in US government e-mail security - and one that, with hindsight, seems blindingly obvious.

The UK recently banned flights from the UAE because of fears over growing corona virus risks. It also added Turkey and Qatar to its red list. Ireland is a special case and there is free movement between the UK and Ireland.

Trying to fly to the UK from the Far East is difficult. At the moment, many flights are via the Middle East or Turkey. Some are via Singapore which is on the UK's "Green list."

But one middle east airline has found a way to circumvent the UK's ban on flights from there - and to facilitate dishonest passengers who want to avoid spending GBP2,000 on quarantine and testing and, of course, risk spreading CoVid-19 into the UK's population.

It's a telephone number and it's cropping up in all kinds of places, including a PayPal / Target / Apple iPhone scam that arrived in our own mailbox this morning.

Google is threatening to kill Android phones if users do not provide personal information.

There are several versions of the threat issued by Google where its persuasion has failed.

Google is facing two problems: first, its own message demands the information and then says it will be used to the customer's detriment and secondly, people no longer trust it.