Latest news with #RossMcKenzie
Otago Daily Times
15-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Launch date set for new boat
After seven years of hard slog, the new $1 million Russell John Chisholm coastguard boat will be officially launched at Riverton's high tide on August 16, says Riverton Coastguard skipper and president Ross McKenzie. The new vessel will replace the 25-year-old 8.5m Naiad also called the Russell John Chisholm. Russell John Chisholm was a 7-year-old boy whose body was never found after he died alongside five others when a Cessna carrying 10 passengers lost power in both engines and plunged into Foveaux Strait in 1998. The Chisholm family have remained strong supporters of the coastguard. The coastguard crews were expecting to receive the new boat built by Invercargill's Gough Bros in early June, but it needed sea trials and its four skippers to first be familiarised with its new state-of-the-art electronic technology and revalidated before the official launch. "We get an exemption to do sea trials and training until we're signed off on the boat. Then we can sign off all the crew and their knowledge of the boat. "It's just a matter of making sure everything's running well — running the motors at different revs and just confirming everything's running the way it should be [and] the electronics are set up correctly. "There's a fair bit of excitement in the group. They're all keen to get out and get on the boat." While the boat was larger than the current rescue boat, he expected it would handle in a similar way. "It shouldn't be too much difference because it's the same design hull, same boat and everything, it's just slightly heavier. "So it's just a matter for us to get that experience under our belt. . . and get comfortable with it before we put it into full service." It is powered by twin V6 350 Yamaha outboard engines and equipped with Raymarine electronics providing autopilot search patterns, a FLIR (forward-looking infrared) thermal image camera and night vision cameras. Mr McKenzie said he was particularly looking forward to working with the FLIR technology. Locator beacon co-ordinates could be programmed into the camera and would immediately start scanning a search area. Thermal imaging was capable of detecting small differences in heat, allowing anyone in the water to be quickly detected, both night or day, he said. Three Riverton Coastguard volunteers had attended the Auckland Boat Show in 2024. "They spent the full three days just on electronics and basically they chose electronics that were the easiest to use." He expected the launch would be a big community celebration, as the community had provided valuable encouragement and fundraising contributions. "The launch was a chance for us to thank the people involved in the community and the sponsors for their support."
Russia Today
07-02-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
UK demands Apple allow spying on users worldwide
The UK government has issued a 'technical capability notice' to Apple, compelling the tech giant to create a backdoor to its encrypted iCloud service, the Washington Post reported on Friday. The move would enable UK law enforcement and security agencies to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide, according to the newspaper. The UK's Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), referred to by critics as the 'Snoopers' Charter,' grants authorities the power to mandate that tech companies permit access to users' data for investigative purposes. It also makes it a criminal offense to reveal that the government has made such a demand. The recent notice requires Apple to provide a means for decrypting user data. It is currently protected by end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only users can access their information. Creating such backdoors could weaken overall security and set a dangerous precedent, according to Daniel Castro, vice-president of the US-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. In a statement on Friday, he has described the UK's move as an 'unjustified over-reach that threatens the security and privacy of individuals and businesses around the world.' READ MORE: EU mulls expanding digital surveillance over every citizen – media Last March, in a submission to the a parliamentary committee, Apple expressed concern that the IPA could be used to force companies to 'break encryption by inserting backdoors into their software products.' Apple asserted that it 'would never build a backdoor' and would rather withdraw 'critical safety features' from the UK market affecting the security of British users' data. Ross McKenzie, a data protection partner at law firm Addleshaw Goddard, told the Guardian that the UK order could lead to a clash with the EU, potentially affecting agreements that allow the free flow of personal data between the UK and Europe. UK security officials argue that encryption can hinder efforts to combat crime and terrorism. 'Maintaining proportionate, lawful access to such communications in the face of ever-more prevalent encryption is sometimes our only means of detecting and understanding these threats,' Ken McCallum, head of the UK's domestic intelligence agency MI5, stated last October. He believes that 'privacy and exceptional lawful access can coexist if absolutist positions are avoided.' The UK Home Office has declined to confirm or deny the existence of the notice, stating, 'We do not comment on operational matters,' according to The Guardian. READ MORE: Apple reveals which diplomats were hacked by Pegasus Apple has long defended the encryption of its operating systems, notably challenging the FBI in court in 2016 over a demand for a 'backdoor' to access the iPhone of a suspect in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. In legal filings, Apple argued that the US government was requesting something it did not possess and that creating such a tool would be 'too dangerous.' The FBI eventually unlocked the phone using an Israeli spy tool, though it reportedly found nothing of value. Later revelations showed that other Israeli spyware, called Pegasus, had been used to hack tens of thousands of iPhones worldwide, targeting journalists, dissidents, and even heads of state.
