Days of the 'bank job' are numbered

27 December 2013 Last updated at 07:34 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

The number of robberies on British bank branches has dropped by 90% in the past decade, figures from the British Bankers Association suggest.

The BBA said there were 66 robberies in 2011, compared to 847 in 1992.

The drop has been attributed to a raft of innovative technologies making it extremely difficult for "traditional" robbery tactics to work.

"Banks are working hard to confine armed robberies to the world of TV dramas," BBA chief Anthony Browne said.

"Being caught up in a bank job is a terrifying ordeal for staff and customers that can scar lives for decades.

"It's great to see that the number of these crimes have fallen sharply in recent years. Anyone trying to rob a bank now faces much better CCTV, protective screens that can rise in less than a second and even special fog designed to disperse criminals.

Continue reading the main story

Fancy a bank account with $300,000 (£184,000) in it? If you know where to look and you don't mind dealing with cybercriminals then the going rate is just $300, a study of the hacking underworld suggests.

"Banks will continue to work closely with each other, post offices and the police to make such raids a thing of the past."

Disorientating fog

A similar trend has been noted in the US, where FBI figures for 2012 put the number of bank robberies nationwide at 3,870 - the lowest in decades.

In an effort to deter criminals and make branch workers safer, banks have made significant investments in security technology.

These range from simple barriers - which drop down when a panic button is pressed - to special "fog" that disorientates criminals.

"DNA" spray is another common deterrent - robbers are coated with a unique, traceable material that is extremely difficult to wash off skin and can prove that a suspect was at the premises of a robbery.

Combined, the measures mean the risks outweigh any potential gains - particularly as bank branches typically store less cash on the premises than in previous years.

Shift to online

However, while brute-force bank robberies are dropping, banks - and their customers - are still under threat from crime.

Official statistics from the Met Police confirm that business robberies were down 31% in London over the past decade, reports the BBC's business correspondent Joe Lynam, but some thieves have switched their focus to the vehicles that transport money between banks.

More significant is the growing rate of cyber-crime relating to banks and other financial transactions.

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Loretta Lynch, US attorney: "Instead of guns and masks, they used laptops and malware"

Recently, 40 million credit card details held by major US retail chain Target were compromised and are now being sold online. The attack, according to one security researcher, originated in Ukraine.

In a separate attack, criminals based in New York obtained $45m (£29m) by accessing a database of information used by cash machines. Seven men were charged in May.

Beyond bank details, hackers - the new generation of robbers - are also scooping up personal details and packaging them up to be sold on.

Full dossiers of information about an individual, including bank details, are routinely sold on the online black market for around $30, a recent study suggested.

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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Snowden says 'mission accomplished'

24 December 2013 Last updated at 11:34 ET

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Edward Snowden will deliver a Christmas message on UK TV, as Simeon Paterson reports

Former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details of US electronic surveillance programmes, says he achieved his aim.

"In terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished," he told the Washington Post.

"I already won," said Mr Snowden, whose extensive leaks have caused a reassessment of US surveillance policy.

The 30-year-old was interviewed in Russia, where he was granted temporary asylum on 1 August.

Mr Snowden fled the US in late May, taking a huge cache of secret documents with him. He faces espionage charges in the US.

Continue reading the main story

How intelligence is gathered

• Accessing internet company data
• Tapping fibre optic cables
• Eavesdropping on phones
• Targeted spying

"As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn't want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself," he told the newspaper.

"All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed," Mr Snowden said.

Last week, a federal judge declared the mass collection of telephone data unconstitutional and a presidential advisory panel suggested reforms.

Both the judge and the panel said there was little evidence that any terrorist plot had been thwarted by the programme.

A few days later, in his end-of-year news conference, US President Barack Obama suggested there might be a review of surveillance by the NSA.

In light of "disclosures that have taken place" and public concerns about the programmes, there might be "another way of skinning the cat", he said.

However, he accused Mr Snowden of causing "unnecessary damage" by leaking documents.

President Obama said he would make a "definitive statement" in January about recommendations by the White House panel.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

A child born today will... never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, an unrecorded, unanalysed thought"

End Quote Edward Snowden

'Going in blind'

The NSA, accustomed to watching without being watched, faces scrutiny it has not endured since the 1970s, or perhaps ever, the Washington Post reports.

Mr Snowden told the newspaper he had no way of knowing whether the public would share his views.

"You recognise that you're going in blind... But when you weigh that against the alternative, which is not to act, you realise that some analysis is better than no analysis."

Later, the UK's Channel 4 revealed that Mr Snowden would deliver its "Alternative Christmas Message" on Wednesday - the broadcaster's answer to Queen Elizabeth II's message to the nation.

In his first TV interview since arriving in Moscow, Mr Snowden would talk about "why privacy matters", it said.

"A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, an unrecorded, unanalysed thought," he was quoted as saying.

"The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it. Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying."

More details of people and institutions targeted by UK and US surveillance were published last week by The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel.

The papers said the list of about 1,000 targets included an EU commissioner, humanitarian organisations and Israeli officials including a prime minister.

US technology giants including Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are taking steps to block the collection of data by their government.

In October, news that the NSA had monitored the phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel triggered a diplomatic row between Berlin and Washington.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff was also angered by revelations that the NSA had hacked the computer network of Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras to collect data on emails and telephone calls.

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Cash limits follow Target data theft

23 December 2013 Last updated at 11:28 ET

Debit card limits are being cut for two million Americans following a hack attack on US retailer Target.

Details of more than 40 million cards were stolen by thieves who compromised card swipe systems at Target's tills.

Bank JP Morgan Chase said it was reducing limits on all cards used at Target while thieves had been scooping up data.

Security researchers said the stolen card numbers had been seen on underground markets.

Card losses

The thieves managed to grab the key details for so many cards by getting malware onto the computer systems at the checkout desks in almost 1,800 Target stores in the US. It is still not clear how the thieves managed to get their malware onto the systems.

The thieves had access to card data read at the tills for almost three weeks, said Target in a statement released after it realised it had been under attack.

JP Morgan Chase said it had lowered daily spending limits to $300 (£183) and daily cash withdrawal limits to $100 on potentially vulnerable cards as a "precaution".

Reuters reported that other US banks are also believed to be putting stringent precautions in place that would help to spot if cards were being used fraudulently. In addition, Target said it would offer free credit monitoring for customers affected by fraud.

On 20 December, security researcher Brian Krebs said there was evidence that card numbers stolen in the Target attack had shown up on underground markets where such details are traded.

Writing on his blog, Mr Krebs said security investigators had first confirmed card details had been stolen from Target by buying a "dump" of credit card numbers and matching them to those known to have been used at stores during the breach.

A huge batch of numbers had shown up on one site that traded in good quality dumps, he said, adding that cards from non-US banks used at Target stores were now fetching premium prices.

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Royal pardon for codebreaker Turing

24 December 2013 Last updated at 07:48 ET

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Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous royal pardon, as Danny Shaw reports

Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous royal pardon.

It addresses his 1952 conviction for homosexuality for which he was punished by being chemically castrated.

The conviction meant he lost his security clearance and had to stop the code-cracking work that had proved vital to the Allies in World War Two.

The pardon was granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy after a request by Justice Minister Chris Grayling.

'Appalling' treatment

"Dr Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," said Mr Grayling.

He said the research Turing carried out during the war at Bletchley Park undoubtedly shortened the conflict and saved thousands of lives.

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Turing centenary

2012 saw a series of events that celebrated the life and work of Alan Turing. The events were held to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth

Turing's work helped accelerate Allied efforts to read German Naval messages enciphered with the Enigma machine. He also contributed some more fundamental work on codebreaking that was only released to public scrutiny in April 2012.

"His later life was overshadowed by his conviction for homosexual activity, a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed," said Mr Grayling.

"Turing deserves to be remembered and recognised for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man."

The pardon comes into effect on 24 December.

Turing died in June 1954 from cyanide poisoning and an inquest decided that he had committed suicide. However, biographers, friends and other students of his life dispute the finding and suggest his death was an accident.

Many people have campaigned for years to win a pardon for Turing.

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Dr Sue Black, a computer scientist, was one of the key figures in the campaign.

She told the BBC that she hoped all the men convicted under the anti-homosexuality law would now be pardoned.

"This is one small step on the way to making some real positive change happen to all the people that were convicted," she said.

"It's a disgrace that so many people were treated so disrespectfully."

Some have criticised the action for not going far enough and, 59 years after Turing's death, little more than a token gesture.

"I just think it's ridiculous, frankly," British home computing pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair told the BBC.

"He's been dead these many years so what's the point? It's a silly nonsense.

"He was such a fine, great man, and what was done was appalling of course. It makes no sense to me, because what's done is done."

'It's very wrong'

Lord Sharkey, a Liberal Democrat peer who wrote a private member's bill calling for a royal pardon in July 2012, said the decision was "wonderful news".

"This has demonstrated wisdom and compassion," he said. "It has recognised a very great British hero and made some amends for the cruelty and injustice with which Turing was treated."

Vint Cerf, the computer scientist known as one of the founding fathers of the internet, also welcomed the development.

"The royal pardon for Alan Turing rights a long-standing wrong and properly honours a man whose imagination and intellect made him legendary in our field," he told the BBC.

Technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch added: "Society didn't understand Alan Turing or his ideas on many levels but that was a reflection on us, not on him - and it has taken us 60 years to catch up."

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: "I pay tribute to the government for ensuring Alan Turing has a royal pardon at last but I do think it's very wrong that other men convicted of exactly the same offence are not even being given an apology, let alone a royal pardon.

"We're talking about at least 50,000 other men who were convicted of the same offence, of so-called gross indecency, which is simply a sexual act between men with consent."

Mr Tatchell said he would like to see Turing's death fully investigated.

"While I have no evidence that he was murdered, I do think we need to explore the possibility that he may have been killed by the security services. He was regarded as a high security risk," he said.

'Not entirely comfortable'

Glyn Hughes, the sculptor of the Alan Turing Memorial in Manchester, said it was "very gratifying" that he had finally been pardoned.

"When we set out to try and make him famous - get him recognised - it was really difficult to collect money," he said.

Continue reading the main story

Big screen

Turing's life is the subject of upcoming Hollywood movie The Imitation Game, which focuses on the cracking of the Enigma code. Starring Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, the film is due for release next year.

Channel 4's TV film Codebreaker, about the highs and lows of Turing's life, was aired in 2011.

And during the 2012 celebrations of the centenary of Turing's birth, a Welsh digital arts festival - the Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival - featured a laser image of Turing projected from Conwy Castle into the sky.

Although Turing was born in London, he had strong connections with north Wales.

The Italianate village of Portmeirion in Gwynedd was one of Turing's favourite places.

But it was in northern England where Turing spent the last six years of his life, working at Manchester University in various specialist fields including mathematical logic and philosophy.

"None of the big computer companies would stump up a penny for a memorial. They perhaps would now - we've come a very long way."

But he said he was "not entirely comfortable" that Turing had been pardoned while thousands of other gay men had not.

"The problem is, of course, if there was a general pardon for men who had been prosecuted for homosexuality, many of them are still alive and they could get compensation."

In December 2011, an e-petition was created on the Direct Gov site that asked for Turing to be pardoned. It received more than 34,000 signatures but its request was denied by the then justice secretary, Lord McNally, who said Turing was "properly convicted" for what was at the time a criminal offence.

Prior to that in August 2009, a petition was started to request a pardon. It won an official apology from the prime minister at the time, Gordon Brown, who said the way Turing was persecuted over his homosexuality was "appalling".

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Butterfly botnet 'mastermind' jailed

24 December 2013 Last updated at 06:25 ET

A hacker accused of masterminding one of the biggest ever botnets has been sentenced to just under 5 years in jail.

Matjaz Skorjanc was arrested in 2010 after a two-year investigation into malware that had hijacked about 12.7 million computers around the world.

The 27-year-old was found guilty of creating the Mariposa botnet software, assisting others in "wrongdoings" and money laundering.

His lawyer said he would appeal.

In addition to the 58-month jail term, Skorjanc was also ordered to pay a 4,000 euro ($4,100; £2,510) fine and give up a flat and car he was alleged to have bought with money he had received from a Spanish criminal syndicate.

The prosecutors in the case have said they also intended to challenge the Slovenian court's ruling because they had wanted a tougher jail sentence of seven-and-a-half-years.

The former medical student's ex-girlfriend Nusa Coh was also sentenced to eight months probation for money laundering.

Identity revealed

Mariposa is the Spanish for butterfly.

The botnet got its name because it was created with software called ButterFly Flooder that was alleged to have been written by Skorjanc and advertised on the net as a way to "stress test" computer networks and remotely control Windows and Linux PCs.

Computers in more than 190 countries were infected by Mariposa, which spread by a variety of methods including via instant messages, peer-to-peer file-sharing systems and removable storage devices.

Once installed its operators could command the compromised machines to carry out their instructions including sending back copies of data they stored.

The scale of the problem led the FBI to team up with European law enforcement agencies, the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and other security experts to track down the perpetrators.

This proved difficult to do because the hackers only connected to the net via a virtual private network (VPN), which hid their locations.

On 23 December 2009 the authorities managed to gain control of the botnet; which they believe rattled one of its operators, who went by the nickname Netkairo.

The operator subsequently managed to take back control of the infected computers and then used them to attack Defence Intelligence, a Canadian security firm helping the FBI.

However, in doing so Netkairo appeared to have revealed his identity by accidentally connecting to the botnet directly from his home computer rather than the VPN.

On 3 February 2010 the Spanish Civil Guard arrested Florencio Carro Ruiz, who they identified as Netkairo, and two other Spaniards.

Five months later the Slovenian police arrested Skorjanc, who they said had used the alias Iserdo and had written the code.

Officials said the botnet had been used to send spam emails, stage distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to overwhelm targets' servers with traffic, and harvest information including credit card details and log-ins.

"I think the sentence is significant and will be remembered as a milestone in the prosecution of cybercrimes," Keith Murphy, chief executive of Defence Intelligence told the BBC.

"It reflects that authorities have realised the damage that can be wrought by a piece of code, and are now starting to equate it to physical theft. The 'wild west' days of cybercrime are over, even in smaller countries."

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Google robot wins Pentagon contest

23 December 2013 Last updated at 08:26 ET

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Schaft won this round of Darpa's competition by a wide margin

A robot developed by a Japanese start-up recently acquired by Google is the winner of a two-day competition hosted by the Pentagon's research unit Darpa.

Team Schaft's machine carried out all eight rescue-themed tasks to outscore its rivals by a wide margin.

Three of the other 15 teams that took part failed to secure any points at the event near Miami, Florida.

Schaft and seven of the other top-scorers can now apply for more Darpa funds to compete in 2014's finals.

Continue reading the main story

1. Schaft (27 points)

2. IHMC Robotics (20 points)

3. Tartan Rescue (18 points)

4. MIT (16 points)

5. Robosimian (14 points)

6. Traclabs / Wrecs (11 points)

8. Trooper (9 points)

9. Thor / Vigir / Kaist (8 points).

12. HKU / DRC-Hubo (3 points)

14. Chiron / Nasa-JSC / Mojavaton (0 points)

Darpa said it had been inspired to organise the challenge after it became clear robots were only capable of playing a very limited role in efforts to contain 2011's Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan.

"What we realised was ... these robots couldn't do anything other than observe," said Gill Pratt, programme manager for the Darpa Robotics Challenge.

"What they needed was a robot to go into that reactor building and shut off the valves."

In order to spur on development of more adept robots the agency challenged contestants to complete a series of tasks, with a time-limit of 30 minutes for each:

• Drive a utility vehicle along a course
• Climb an 8ft-high (2.4m) ladder
• Remove debris blocking a doorway
• Pull open a lever-handled door
• Cross a course that featured ramps, steps and unfastened blocks
• Cut a triangular shape in a wall using a cordless drill
• Close three air valves, each controlled by a different-sized wheel or lever
• Unreel a hose and then screw its nozzle into a wall connector

More than 100 teams originally applied to take part, and the number was whittled down to 17 by Darpa ahead of Friday and Saturday's event.

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Humanoid robots drove cars, climbed ladders - and often fell - in the competition sponsored by the US Department of Defense

Some entered their own machines, while others made use of Atlas - a robot manufactured by another Google-owned business, Boston Dynamics - controlling it with their own software.

One self-funded team from China - Intelligent Pioneer - dropped out at the last moment, bringing the number of contestants who took part at the Homestead-Miami Speedway racetrack to 16.

Continue reading the main story

Schaft's 1.48m (4ft 11in) tall, two-legged robot entered the contest the favourite and lived up to its reputation.

It makes use of a new high-voltage liquid-cooled motor technology that uses a capacitor, rather a battery, for power. Its engineers say this lets its arms move and pivot at higher speeds than would otherwise be possible, in effect giving it stronger "muscles".

The machine was developed by a spin-off from the University of Tokyo's Jouhou System Kougaku lab, which Google recently revealed it had acquired.

The team scored 27 points out of a possible 32, putting it seven points ahead of second-placed IHMC Robotics, which used Atlas.

Scores were based on a system that awarded three points for completing a task's primary objectives, and then a bonus point for doing so without any human intervention.

Schaft's robot behaved nearly perfectly, but lost points because "the wind blew a door out of their robot's hold and because their robotic creation was not able to climb out of a vehicle after it successfully navigated an obstacle course," reported the Japan Daily Press.

'Reality check'

Videos posted online by Darpa illustrate that the robots remain much slower than humans, often pausing for a minute or more between actions while they carried out the calculations needed to make each movement.

Several proved unsteady on their feet and were only saved from falls by attached harnesses.

Three of the teams which entered self-designed machines - including Nasa's Johnson Space Center and its robot Valkyrie - failed to complete any of the challenges.

The event was described as a "reality check" by Jyuji Hewitt, who attended on behalf of the US Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command.

But Darpa's Mr Pratt added that the competition, and the finals that will be held in December, would help bring forward a time the machines could be used in real-world situations.

"Today's modest progress will be a good next step to help save mankind from disasters," he said.

The top eight teams can now apply for up to $1m (£611,000) of Darpa investment before the finals to improve their robots' skills. The winner will get a $2m prize.

Lower scorers in last weekend's round can stay in the contest but will have to fund their own efforts,

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Twitter's Dorsey to join Disney

24 December 2013 Last updated at 05:38 ET

Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey, has been nominated as an independent board director at Walt Disney.

Shareholders will be able to vote on his selection at the company's annual meeting on 18 March.

Aged 37, Mr Dorsey would become the youngest member of Disney's board, the majority of whom are in their 50s.

Over the last few years he has been running Square, a company which offers credit card payments service for small businesses.

"Jack Dorsey is a talented entrepreneur who has helped create groundbreaking new businesses in the social media and commerce spaces," said Robert Iger, Disney's chairman and chief executive.

"The perspective he brings to Disney and its board is extremely valuable."

Twitter sold shares on the stock market for the first time in November and Mr Dorsey's near 5% stake in Twitter is worth around $1bn.

He founded Twitter along with Ev Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass.

Mr Dorsey sent Twitter's first tweet in 2006: "just setting up my twttr".

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Cryptolocker 'infects 250,000 PCs'

24 December 2013 Last updated at 08:38 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

A virulent form of ransomware has now infected about quarter of a million Windows computers, according to a report by security researchers.

Cryptolocker scrambles users' data and then demands a fee to unencrypt it alongside a countdown clock.

Dell Secureworks said that the US and UK had been worst affected.

It added that the cyber-criminals responsible were now targeting home internet users after initially focusing on professionals.

The firm has provided a list of net domains that it suspects have been used to spread the code, but warned that more are being generated every day.

Ransomware has existed since at least 1989, but this latest example is particularly problematic because of the way it makes files inaccessible.

"Instead of using a custom cryptographic implementation like many other malware families, Cryptolocker uses strong third-party certified cryptography offered by Microsoft's CryptoAPI," said the report.

"By using a sound implementation and following best practices, the malware authors have created a robust program that is difficult to circumvent."

Ransom dilemma

The first versions of Crytpolocker appear to have been posted to the net on 5 September.

Early examples were spread via spam emails that asked the user to click on a Zip-archived extension identified as being a customer complaint about the recipient's organisation.

Later it was distributed via malware attached to emails claiming there had been a problem clearing a cheque. Clicking the associated link downloaded a Trojan horse called Gameover Zeus, which in turn installed Cryptolocker onto the victim's PC.

By mid-December, Dell Secureworks said between 200,000 to 250,000 computers had been infected.

It said of those affected, "a minimum of 0.4%, and very likely many times that" had agreed to the ransom demand, which can currently only be paid in the virtual currencies Bitcoin and MoneyPak.

Top 10 infected countries	Number of infected systems identified using test "sinkhole" servers between 9-16 December	Percentage of total
Source: Dell SecureWorks
US	1,540	23.8%
Great Britain	1,228	19.0%
Australia	836	12.9%
France	372	5.8%
Brazil	309	4.8%
Italy	204	3.2%
Turkey	182	2.8%
Spain	145	2.2%
China	138	2.1%
Canada	135	2.1%

"Anecdotal reports from victims who elected to pay the ransom indicate that the Cryptolocker threat actors honour payments by instructing infected computers to decrypt files and uninstall the malware," added the security firm.

"According to reports from victims, payments may be accepted within minutes or may take several weeks to process."

However, Trend Micro, another security firm, has warned that giving into the blackmail request only encouraged the further spread of Cryptolocker and other copycat schemes, and said that there was no guarantee of getting the data back.

Safety steps

Dell suggested PCs be blocked from communicating with the hundreds of domains names it had flagged as being linked to the spread of Cryptolocker, and it suggested five further steps the public and businesses could take to protect themselves:

• Install software that blocks executable fields and compressed archives before they reach email inboxes
• Check permissions assigned to shared network drives to limit the number of people who can make modifications
• Regularly back-up data to offline storage such as Blu-ray and DVD-Rom disks. Network-attached drives and cloud storage does not count as Cryptolocker can access and encrypt files stored there
• Set each PC's software management tools to prevent Cryptolocker and other suspect programs from accessing certain critical directories
• Set the computer's Group Policy Objects to restrict registry keys - databases containing settings - used by Cryptolocker so that the malware is unable to begin the encryption process

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Cheques to be paid in via smartphone

25 December 2013 Last updated at 21:19 ET

Plans have been announced to allow bank customers to pay cheques into their account by taking photos on their smartphones.

Rather than go to the bank in person, customers will be able to photograph the cheque, and send it electronically.

The government is to launch a consultation on the idea, with a view to making the necessary legal changes.

The technology will also allow cheques to be cleared in two days, rather than the six it takes at the moment.

Banks say the new transfer method will be more convenient, and more secure.

"Moving into a virtual world will actually create a more secure customer experience than the paper experience today," said Antony Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays.

Such photos would not be stored on the phone itself, so there should be no security risk if a phone was stolen.

Continue reading the main story

I think people are going into branches less and less, particularly as a result of mobile banking"

End Quote Antony Jenkins Chief executive, Barclays

Similar technology was introduced in the United States nine years ago, following the attack on the World Trade Centre.

A new law known as Check 21 was passed, to enable banks to process cheques electronically, rather than having to transport paper versions across the country.

Cheques

The government believes a change in the law in the UK would also promote the continuing use of cheques.

The UK Payments Council was originally planning to abolish all cheque payments by 2018, but was forced to change its mind after public opposition.

"We want to see more innovation so that customers see the benefits of new technologies," said Sajid Javid, the financial secretary to the Treasury.

"We want cheques to have a crucial role in the ongoing success of the UK," he added.

In 2012, 10% of all payments by individuals were made by cheque, and 25% of payments by businesses.

The industry says most younger account-holders already use electronic systems of payment, and rarely use cheques.

However all customers will still be able to pay in cheques by posting them to their bank, or by visiting their bank directly.

Branch closures

Barclays is planning to launch a pilot programme for paying in cheques via phone from April 2014.

It hopes to launch a service for all its customers later in the year.

But the new technology is likely to raise further questions about the size of the branch network, as customers turn to banking via PCs and mobiles.

Last month Barclays announced 1700 further job losses in its High Street branches, as a direct result of mobile technology.

In the year to July 2013 it closed 37 branches, and it has hinted at more closures to come.

"I think people are going into branches less and less, particularly as a result of mobile banking, and that's going to accelerate the process," Antony Jenkins told the BBC.

The bank is in the process of moving eight of its branches into stores operated by Asda.

A spokesman said customers would always be able to pay their cheques in at a branch if they wanted to.

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Classic 70s and 80s games go online

27 December 2013 Last updated at 09:21 ET

Classic video games from the 1970s and 1980s have been put online by the Internet Archive and can be played within a web browser for nothing.

The collection has launched with games from five early home consoles, including the Atari 2600 and Colecovision.

The games do not have sound, but will soon, the Internet Archive said.

"In coming months, the playable software collection will expand greatly," archivist Jason Scott wrote.

"Making these vintage games available to the world, instantly, allows for commentary, education, enjoyment and memory for the history they are a part of."

The other machines included are the Atari 7800, the Magnavox Odyssey (known as the Philips Videopac G7000 in Europe) and the Astrocade.

Well-recognised titles such as Pacman, Space Invaders and Frogger are all in the archive - with more consoles and games expected soon.

Nostalgic urges

Unlike today's titles, which are stored on disks or even simply downloaded directly to a console, many older machines would use bespoke cartridges to store games.

As the consoles fell into disrepair and became ever more scarce, playing these games has become difficult.

For many years, communities of gamers have created ROMs - read-only memory - images of games. These files can be played on a normal PC by using an emulator.

However, in many cases, gaming in this way can be illegal - particularly when the games involved are made by the likes of Nintendo and Sega, which clamp down on such activity, deeming it a form of counterfeiting.

But older games such as the ones found on the Internet Archive fall into something of a legal grey area.

Publishers and developers often turn a blind eye as, with the games no longer available to buy, the ROMs mean the titles are still able to be played by many.

Yet with smartphone gaming on the rise, publishers are now in a position where these old titles can be revived, cashing in on the timeless quality of the games, as well as fans' nostalgic urges.

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