ga ette

72 Jan/Feb 2017
FINAL VERDICT
Law Society Gazette | gazette.ie
PUELLA CARTHAGINIS RIDEBAT
SECRET SQUIRREL CYBERATTACKS
The real threat to global critical
infrastructure is not enemy states
or organisations. It’s squirrels, according
to one security expert. Cris
Thomas has been tracking power
cuts caused by animals since 2013,
the BBC reports. His ‘Cyber Squirrel
1’ project was set up to counteract
what he called the “ludicrousness
of cyberwar claims by people
at high levels in government and
industry”, he told a security conference
in Washington recently.
An Oxford graduate is suing his
alma mater, claiming “appallingly
bad” tuition cost him a first-class
degree and prevented him from
having a successful career as a
“high flying commercial barrister”,
Legal Cheek reports. Instead,
he had to make do with the booby
prize of a Magic Circle training
contract.
The 38-year-old achieved
a 2:1 in history from the prestigious
Brasenose College 16
years ago, but took the university
Squirrels, birds and other
animals have been responsible
for more than 1,700 power cuts
affecting nearly 5 million people –
and squirrels top the list, with 879
‘attacks’. By tracking these issues,
Thomas is seeking to dispel the
hype around cyberattacks.
Damage done by real cyberattacks
was tiny compared with
the “cyberthreat” posed by animals.
Indeed, there have been
eight deaths attributed to animal
SOLICITOR SUES OVER CAREER PATH
to court over the grade last
December. He is claiming for
loss of earnings of more than
£1 million.
Oxford stated that Faiz Siddiqui’s
claim was time-barred.
However, the High Court judge
ruled that Oxford had a case to
answer and that a trial should take
place “as soon as possible”, according
to The Independent.
Mr Justice Kerr continued:
“I am satisfied that the university
has a case to answer that is fit for
attacks on infrastructure, including
six caused by squirrels downing
power lines.
He’d want to watch himself,
though. A Chicago city councilman
who has railed against the
growing squirrel menace was
nearly taken out by a ‘suicidesquirrel’
that hurled itself into
the front wheel of his bike in November.
He was hospitalised with
a broken nose, a fractured skull,
and several missing teeth.
trial in relation to both limbs of
the claim for damages, and that
the claimant has a real prospect
of succeeding in persuading the
court to entertain his claim, either
on the basis that it is not out of
time, or by persuading the court
that it is just and equitable to
allow the action to proceed.”
If Siddiqui’s case is successful,
it could open the door for more
students to launch similar claims
if they don’t graduate with the
grade they believe they deserve.
TERMS AND
CONDITIONS
APPLY
A top London media lawyer has
rewritten Instagram’s terms and
conditions so that even children
can understand them, Quartz
Media reports.
Jenny Afia, a partner at Schillings,
used child-friendly language
to rephrase and condense
the popular social media app’s
17-page privacy policy into one
page. The guidance featured in
a Children’s Commissioner report
called Growing Up Digital.
Afia said: “One-third of internet
users are children, but
the internet wasn’t created for
children.”
Some Instagram users may be
interested to know that “officially,
you own any original pictures
and videos you post, but we are
allowed to use them, and we can
let others use them as well, anywhere
around the world. Other
people might pay us to use them
and we will not pay you for that.”
Similarly, the image-sharing
site “may keep, use and share”
personal information with companies
connected to the site,
including your name and pictures,
your email address, school,
address, phone number, your
friends, and who you are chatting
to via DM.