The client specifically wanted their surveillance team tested in response to a short notice tasking including planning, action on target and reporting.

Based on the client’s requirement, we conducted a day’s classroom based refresher training followed by a day’s on the ground activity involving several scenarios that they had to react to. It was an excellent two days with the classroom work taking place at our office in Belgrave Square and the exercise spread over several locations in and around London.

The team thoroughly enjoyed the package, the hot weather didn’t deter their enthusiasm and the feedback was great. The accompanying image is a few examples of the end product achieved by the team.

If you have a requirement for similar training, please get in touch – E: security@valkyrie.co.uk | T:  +44 (0) 2074 999 323

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sun!

Originally designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Battersea Power Station was built in two stages which externally form a seamless and near symmetrical whole, but internally are designed in two distinct styles. Battersea A, which completed in 1935 is in the Art Deco style prevalent at that time, while Battersea B, which completed in 1955, reflects the post war austerity with its industrial utilitarian design.

At their peak, the iconic turbines supplied a fifth of London’s electricity, including some of the capital’s most recognisable addresses such as Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. The Power Station was fully decommissioned in 1983.

As a child, I remember walking around the derelict area and to me, it felt dark and depressing.  Now, however, the redevelopment is amazing and has created a significant boost to the UK economy, craftsmanship and suppliers have been sourced from all corners of the country as part of the Power Station’s restoration. Thousands of jobs have been created for the construction and design industries as part of the building’s restoration, and over 2,500 jobs will be created once the Power Station opens to the public this autumn.

The transformation of the site is truly amazing.  We would certainly recommend a visit, especially as there is now a new Underground Station that serves the power station via the Northern Line!

Festival season is upon us, which means travel, tents and hopefully the time of your life. But how can you keep your valuables safe when you’re dancing the night away in your wellies.

Here at Valkyrie we thought it would be a good idea to remind you how to stay safe during these events:

• Leave unnecessary valuables at home. Take very little worth stealing. Keeping your belongings safe
• Try taking nothing more than your phone, your debit card and your ID (if you’re lucky enough to get asked your age) and keep it with you in a small waterproof bag/cover
• Take an additional power pack with you for your phone to ensure it stays charged
• Try to avoid taking large sums of cash with you, instead use the machines on site or check in advance if traders will take card payments
• Some festivals now run ‘cashless’, allowing you to load your wristband with credit in advance. Check with your event if this is available and load up before you go
• Consider utilising a secure locker – some festival now provide lockers to protect your personal belongings from theft. These can usually be booked in advance and are open 24 hours a day, so you can access them anytime at the festival
• When you go to sleep, put your valuables in your sleeping bag with you or in your pockets
• Beware of pick pockets and don’t keep valuables exposed whilst in crowds. It’s better to keep them in secure inside pockets, attached to you, or in a bumbag/money belt
• If you do have your valuables stolen, report it immediately to the security staff. If you’re eligible to claim on your insurance, you’ll need a police report. Before you go to any festival check what your home insurance and travel insurance cover
• Never leave valuable items in your tent when you are not there. Thieves often unzip tents or cut holes in them to grab things that are easily accessible
• Stay in contact with your friends, consider using the ‘buddy-buddy system’, where you look out for a friend, and they look out for you. Organise a time and meeting place with your buddy in case you get lost or want to go off to see different things.  Don’t always rely on your phone, as your battery may go flat, or you may have no signal, or the network may become overloaded
• Stay aware of your surroundings and situationally aware, keep an eye out for aggressive behaviour from other and avoid, remove yourself from aggressive situations as well. Try to avoid getting into arguments, fights or altercations
• Know your alcohol limits – you don’t need to stay completely sober, but you should avoid getting totally drunk. Being intoxicated can be dangerous at festivals, as people may use this to take advantage of you. It’s best to avoid this situation
• Listen to the communication that the festival tells you, they should clearly communicate to you the safety measures they have in place. If you follow their guidelines, you’ll be much safer and reduce the likelihood of being a victim of a crime.

Remain vigilant at all times and in an emergency, always call 999.

If we can be of assistance – E:  Security@valkyrie.co.uk | T: +44 (0) 2074 999 323

In their summer 2022 edition, we feature on page 28 and here is a link to our article:

https://issuu.com/vantagemedialimited/docs/burlingtons_issue9_issuu/28

If you require our services, or would like to know more about Valkyrie, please contact us at security@valkyrie.co.uk or telephone 02074 999 323.

The next stage of fingerprinting doesn’t involve touching anything at all.  So-called contactless fingerprinting technology uses your phone’s camera and image processing algorithms to capture people’s fingerprints. Hold your hand in front of the camera lens, and the software can identify and record all the lines and swirls on your fingertips. This sounds great and futuristic, like something you would see in the Minority Report; however, what does this mean in the real world and, more importantly, the security world?

For starters, providers will not only potentially have access to your data on devices, but they will also now have biological information about you (whether it’s prints or facial recognition). Now we all know password compromise is an issue; however, this will not stop the attacks from occurring but instead increase them. Spoofing a fingerprint has been done many times. My colleague Gurpreet spoke about looking at the swipe pattern in the early days of android, and he was able to figure out using a UV light what direction the swipe was. This was some time ago, so tech has changed, but hopefully, you get my point.

Technology is there to aid us but creating awareness about the pros and cons of technology is the absolute key. If you know the threats, look at ways to protect yourself against them.  If you need any advice, please contact us at security@valkyrie.co.uk or 02074 999 323.

Young minds are so impressionable. With all the social media activity, 24 hours news coverage and the pressures in life, it’s sometimes easy to get lost.

This week, the daughter of our Director of Cyber Security and Electronic Counter Measures, Gurpreet Thathy, asked him what he did at work today, he explained that he did some forensic work and a ‘bug sweep’. Now she is only 6, and said bug sweeps, were looking for ‘ants and spiders’? This clearly made Gurpreet giggle, but ultimately a fair question. Gurpreet then explained to her what it meant. She understood the concept but not why people would want to eavesdrop on other people. Maybe a little too young for the ‘why’ conversation and Gurpreet decided to save it for another day. What made Gurpreet most proud was her inquisitive mind and her interest in what her dad did. After the conversation she decided to brand her dolls house with the Valkyrie brand and said, ‘I want to be like you, Dad’. Brilliant!

Have a great weekend!

As a combined incident the bombing of three Tube trains and a bus resulted in the worst single terrorist atrocity carried out on British soil since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie – 52 innocent people lost their lives with a further 700 injured. At just after 08:50 three explosions took place on the Underground – 26 people died at Russell Square, 6 at Edgware Road and 7 at Aldgate. Almost an hour later, a fourth device was set off on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square, killing 13.

As a servicing police officer I personally remember the day vividly. My police colleagues and I were directly involved in the immediate investigation of this tragic event.  However, I had to leave early as my wife was caught up in the attack on the bus at Tavistock Square, thankfully she only received minor injuries

Here at Valkyrie, we would like to remember everyone affected by these awful events.

Please see the links below, which will take you to Vantage Media’s Instagram page – you may even recognise someone!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfa2DmiI1eJ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfa0-oKoQuw/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfayyeXIXCf/

Please have a look at Vantage Media’s website: vantagemediagroup.co.uk

A total of 187,219,153 passwords were leaked in the UK in 2021. The most common password used in the UK in 2021 was the very unoriginal “123456”, used 571,107 times throughout the year. It was the most popular password across the world, used 103,170,552 times globally. It would take a hacker around one second to crack.

“Password” was the second most common password in the UK, used 423,192 times. It came in at number five in the global ranking, used 20,958,297 times. Some 162,086 Brits were not very creative with their password choice, going for “password1”, bringing it to number four on the UK ranking.

Football was a theme in UK password choices, with “liverpool” coming in third place. The team name was 121 in the world ranking — used 934,857 times, it may be the most popular team in the world. “Liverpool1” was eighth on the UK list, “arsenal” was tenth, “chelsea” was at number 11, and “rangers” was at number 19. “Liverpool” was the only password in the UK top 15 that would take a hacker more than one second to crack — taking two seconds. The word “football” itself was the fourteenth most popular password in the UK, used 70,619 times, and was at number 60 globally, used 1,468,381 times worldwide.

Brits took inspiration from their keyboards, choosing “qwerty” 145,626 times. The word is made up of the first six keys on the top left letter row of a keyboard for Latin script alphabets. Globally it was used 22,317,280 times, the fourth most common password in the world in 2021.

Here at Valkyrie, to avoid the various password security threats which include – dictionary & credential stuffing attacks, password spraying, keylogging and phishing scams we suggest the following:

• Always set a strong password and avoid using personal information (e.g. Date of birth or your name) – prioritise password length and check password strength
• When setting a password include a combination and variety of random of letters, numbers, and characters
• Ideally avoid using ‘real words’
• Never reuse passwords
• Avoid repeat password, use different passwords for different accounts – mix them up
• Consider using a password manager – these are an excellent tool for people struggling to organise their own passwords
• Change your passwords regularly – Hackers use malicious programs that can process every word found in a dictionary to crack passwords
• Never share your passwords
• Avoid public WI-FI

If you need any advice on this or any other security related enquiry, please contact us at security@valkyrie.co.uk or telephone 02074 999 323.