Latest news with #UniversityOfKent
The Guardian
24-07-2025
- The Guardian
Canterbury student jailed for selling phishing kits to fraudsters
A 21-year-old student who designed and distributed online kits linked to £100m worth of fraud has been jailed for seven years. Ollie Holman created phishing kits that mimicked government, bank and charity websites so that criminals could harvest victims' personal information to defraud them. In one case a kit was used to mimic a charity's donation webpage so when someone tried to give money, their card details were taken and used by criminals. Holman, of Eastcote in north-west London, created and supplied 1,052 phishing kits that targeted 69 organisations across 24 countries. He also offered tutorials in how to use the kits and built up a network of almost 700 connections. The fake websites supplied in the kits had features that allowed information such as login and bank details to be stored. It is estimated Holman received £300,000 from selling the kits between 2021 and 2023. The kits were distributed through the encrypted messaging service Telegram. Holman, who was studying electronic and computer engineering at the University of Kent in Canterbury, laundered the money he received through cryptocurrency wallets. The dedicated card and payment crime unit of the City of London police launched an investigation after receiving information from the intelligence firm WMC Global about the fraudulent kits being sold online. Holman was arrested in October 2023 and his university accommodation was searched and devices were seized. After the arrest he continued to use his Telegram channel to provide support to buyers of his kits. He was rearrested in May 2024. Detectives found the kits on Holman's computer and his digital fingerprints linked to their creation. He distributed the kits across Europe and one was connected to a fraud of approximately €1m (£870,000). Holman pleaded guilty to seven charges, including making or supplying articles for use in fraud, encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, and transferring, acquiring and possessing criminal property. He was sentenced to seven years at Southwark crown court. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion After the sentencing, DS Ben Hurley said Holman had enabled mass fraud on a global scale. 'The fraud losses linked to Holman's actions are in the millions. Furthermore, Holman himself profited massively from the sale of this software, with no thought for how it may cause harm to victims,' he said. Sarah Jennings, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said she hoped the sentence sent a message to other fraudsters. 'No matter how sophisticated your methods, you cannot hide behind online anonymity or encrypted platforms,' she said. The CPS said it would take Holman back to court to recover the money he had made from his crimes.
Times
23-06-2025
- Science
- Times
UK scientists grow tea in moon soil, for an out of this world brew
If an intrepid band of British astronauts one day find themselves living on the moon, there is a chance they could start the day with a cup of tea — grown locally. Researchers in Britain have begun an experiment to see whether Camellia sinensis, the plant that produces tea leaves, can survive in simulated lunar and Martian soils. The study, launched under the European Europlanet research programme, is part of the growing field known as space agriculture — a branch of research focused on how humans might one day grow food not just in orbit but on the surfaces of other worlds. 'We joke about the British bringing tea everywhere, but this is the first effort to look at whether you might actually grow it in these kinds of conditions,' Professor Nigel Mason, of the University of Kent, said. Similar trials have shown some promise. In Germany, scientists have discovered that worms can survive and even reproduce in simulated Martian soil, raising hopes they might help to aerate and enrich otherwise barren ground. In Japan, the space agency is experimenting with growing cherry blossom trees in simulated lunar conditions. In Hungary, it's paprika. In Britain, perhaps inevitably, it is black tea. The experiments may have implications closer to home. Understanding how to transform sterile, lifeless soils into viable growing media may offer lessons on how to reclaim desertified land on Earth, where soil quality is rapidly declining due to climate change and over-farming. • Space chiefs set out vision for living in mammoth 'space oases' in 2040 The tea plants come from Dartmoor Estate Tea in Devon, home to one of Britain's small number of tea gardens. Mason's team have started planting these saplings into specially prepared soils that mimic the harsh, nutrient-poor regolith found on the surface of the moon and Mars. Over two 30-day growth cycles this summer, he and his colleagues will compare the performance of the plants in four different environments: fertile Devon soil (as a control), sandy Earth soil (to mimic arid climates), simulated Martian regolith, and lunar regolith from one of the moon's 'highland' regions. The results are expected in September. While hydroponic systems on the International Space Station have been used to grow lettuce and other crops, growing plants in what passes for soil on the moon or Mars will be much tougher. It will be necessary to add organic matter, with the astronaut's own waste being an obvious but limited resource. The Martian surface contains toxic perchlorates, compounds that could be dangerous if they enter the food chain. The researchers plan to test not just whether the tea plants grow, but whether any harmful substances make their way into the leaves. 'We'll be doing a chemical analysis after harvesting to see if anything nasty has made its way into the tea,' Mason said. • Here's how we could colonise Mars 'People do ask whether tea will really be a priority in space,' he added. 'But when you're isolated for months at a time, growing and tending to plants can boost morale and mental health.' And what could be a better boost than if one of those plants makes a decent cuppa?
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Kent gardening programme for student mental health expands
A Kent university is expanding a garden which aims to help the wellbeing of its Community Oasis Garden at the University of Kent's Canterbury campus is a space for students to spend time, find a sense of community and work on biodiversity can be referred to the project by university support services or through mental health charity East Kent Mind, which also runs the student Lewis Sawyer said the garden was "a way to sort of release stress and have some time out, because it can be difficult to step away from things when you're in academia". Mr Sawyer was referred to the garden team by the university support service when he was doing his undergraduate added: "A lot of the time you're just sat in a library, looking at a computer screen, typing, headphones, music, so it can be nice to get back to nature."So far this year the gardeners have reclaimed a patch of overgrown land turning it into beds for planting and have increased their biodiversity impact by creating ponds and bug also plant and grow produce alongside volunteers from the local project is set to take over another building and garden space due to demand and after outgrowing its facilities. 'A place for well-being' Garden ambassador Elinor Casey says students "work on improving and expanding all the time…it gives people a space to just have a breath, university life can be really stressful"."It's really a place for well-being," she have been asked to review access to their mental health services in a recent review of higher education suicide deaths by the Department for followed calls from campaigners in recent years for universities to have a legal duty of care towards UK, which represents the sector, said they were "joined in their commitment to prevent student suicides". Masters student Gabriel Scannicchio has also been benefiting from getting involved in the garden, as he is becoming used to being around big groups of people. "We have a lot of volunteers coming and going and me being one of them obviously meant that I have to be around them quite a lot," he University of Kent said it was investing in opportunities and activities to support mental wellbeing as well as employing mental health advisers and Fellowes, deputy director of student services and head of student support and wellbeing at the university, added: "Students and young people in general are struggling, the NHS does have resource issues so it's really important for us to support and look after our students."We will look at a variety of different options of support including outdoor practical natured support."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- BBC News
Bid to raise £50k to build new bridge at Bennerley Viaduct
A charity has said it needs to raise £50,000 to build a replacement footbridge next to a landmark Victorian viaduct on the Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire Friends of Bennerley Viaduct (FoBV) has begun fundraising for the new bridge to cross the River Erewash in the shadow of the viaduct, dubbed the Iron viaduct reopened in 2022 after being closed for 54 years and the proposed 14.6m (48ft) bridge is part of a plan to attract more visitors to the heritage FoBV said the footbridge would be the "final chapter" in its campaign to rescue the Grad II* listed structure. Erewash Borough Council is currently considering a planning application for the FoBV said the £50,000 was needed to acquire building materials, mainly timber, for the new has launched an online fundraiser towards the goal. FoBV operations director Peter Collins said: "An old concrete bridge over the river was declared unsafe and can no longer be used."The viaduct deck is unrivalled for views of the valley, but to fully appreciate the design and engineering of the viaduct you need to go below where you can see the wrought iron trestles up close."He said the bridge would also allow views of bird and animal and plant life on the site and added the project would also help protect the riverbank from the money is raised and planning permission granted, the bridge would be built largely by FoBV volunteers and students from the University of Kent. The FoBV also hopes to complete the construction of a new access ramp to the viaduct at the Awsworth side of the crossing, and a new visitor centre this year.
