Millions hit by health insurer hack

5 February 2015 Last updated at 12:09

Anthem, America's second largest health insurer, has lost millions of customer records to hackers.

The attackers stole names, addresses, birthdays and social security numbers of customers from every one of Anthem's business units.

So far, Anthem has not said how many records were lost or how many people have been affected.

However, security experts believe personal details about tens of millions of people could have gone missing.

FBI warning

Anthem is known to have about 37 million customers using its health plans. A further 32 million people are linked to it through its affiliates.

In a statement, Anthem said it had closed the security vulnerability that had been exploited by attackers as soon as it had learned of it.

The attack had also been reported to the FBI.

Security company FireEye has been hired to help investigate how the attack unfolded.

Anthem said no credit card or bank account details had been taken or any medical information disclosed.

It did not say when the attack had been or how long hackers had had access to its systems.

It has set up a website, called Anthem Facts, to advise customers about the breach and the action it is taking.

Anthem president Joseph Swedish issued an apology and said the company would notify everyone affected.

In addition, the website said, it would offer credit monitoring and ID protection services to customers in case the cyber-thieves tried to profit from the stolen information.

Medical and health companies were warned last year by the FBI about hackers targeting their industry.

That warning followed an attack on the Community Health Systems hospital group, in which millions of records were lost to hackers.

Many other companies outside the medical field in the US, including Sony, Home Depot, Target and Niemann Marcus, have also recently suffered data breaches and losses.

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BT to buy mobile firm EE for £12.5bn

5 February 2015 Last updated at 13:31

Telecoms group BT has paid £12.5bn to buy mobile operator EE.

The takeover creates a communications giant covering fixed-line phones, broadband, mobile and TV.

The stock market greeted the move by sending BT shares up more than 5%, the highest since 2001, when it sold off its old mobile operation O2.

But rivals TalkTalk and Vodafone have already called for competition authorities to step in and force BT to spin off its Openreach operation.

The deal sees BT buying all EE shares currently held by Orange and Deutsche Telekom.

Then Deutsche Telekom will receive 12% in the new combined business and have a seat on the board.

Orange will receive a 4% stake, as well as about £3.4bn in cash.

The deal more than trebles BT's retail customers adding the 10 million it already had to EE's 24.5 million direct mobile subscribers.

Competition issues

But the deal puts BT in what many see as a dominant position in the market.

TalkTalk and Vodafone say regulators should force BT to spin off its Openreach fixed line division, which enables other telecoms companies to access its network.

Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "Ideally, a structural separation of Openreach would be optimal."

BT's chief executive Gavin Patterson said he did not expect competition authorities to impose stringent remedies and the deal would need to be scrutinised in Britain, rather than Brussels.

Analysis: Rory Cellan-Jones, Technology correspondent

"The new, old BT" is how Vodafone's boss Vittorio Colao described what will emerge if the EE deal goes ahead. Critics say it will be rather like the British Telecom of old, which dominated fixed line services and, with Cellnet, was also big in mobile. Except, with access to 24.5 million EE mobile customers and the biggest fibre broadband network, BT looks even stronger.

When the takeover was first mooted last year, it was assumed there would be few competition issues. But now, with Three's bid for O2, and other deals in the offing, it looks as though the whole telecoms landscape is being redrawn.

BT accepts that UK competition authorities will want to take a look at the deal. But analysts think European regulators may also get involved. Currently, all the regulators look at the mobile and fixed markets separately. But in the new world of "quad play" - where one operator offers mobile, fixed line, broadband and TV - that may make little sense.

It is BT's Openreach division, which owns the fibre network used by all the mobile operators to carry calls and data, which will be the focus for the regulators. Rivals say that once BT owns a mobile network it will be tempted to give it preferential treatment. They would like to see Openreach split off into a separate company.

Savings

BT says it now plans to raise £1bn through a placing of new shares to help fund the deal.

It said in a statement: "The combination of EE and BT will provide customers with innovative, seamless services that combine the power of fibre broadband with wi-fi and advanced mobile capabilities."

BT says that within four years, the deal will be saving it £360m a year in terms of operating costs and capital investment.

It added that by combining the two businesses, it should be able to generate an extra £1.6bn a year in sales.

BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said: "This is a major milestone for BT as it will allow us to accelerate our mobility plans and increase our investment in them."

He said the money being spent on the deal did not affect its plans ahead of the multi-billion pound Premier League rights auction, where it is in tough competition with rival Sky.

Consolidation

The mobile phone market is expected to consolidate further. Hutchison Whampoa, which owns rival Three, is said to be in talks to buy O2.

There has been speculation that Virgin may tie up with Vodafone.

Vodafone is to offer broadband services to UK households from this spring.

But at present, it is still fighting to return to growth. On Thursday, it reported that UK revenues showed a slight rise (0.9%) in the last three months of 2014, while European sales were still declining.

Meanwhile, Sky has also announced the launch of its own mobile service, through a deal with O2's network.

Dan Ridsdale, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said: "In the space of a few months, the UK telecoms landscape has changed enormously. As the majors fill in the gaps in their offerings, competition to offer multi-play bundles is going to step up significantly.

"Whether this will be beneficial for consumers is a very different question. The bundling of services makes it much more difficult to compare pricing, while more premium TV content is likely to move away from free to air."

The BT-EE deal is expected to be finalised by March next year, subject to approval by shareholders of BT and scrutiny from the Competition and Markets Authority.

Analysis: Matthew Wall, Business reporter

BT's purchase of mobile operator EE is part of its grand plan to become a digital publisher along the lines of Netflix, Amazon and Sky, not just a network provider.

It will now be able to distribute its content and services via TV, desktop and mobile, so that customers can access what they want, when and however they want it. Add those three services to BT's fixed-line operation, and the company now becomes a big player in what is called "quad-play".

As our smartphone screens get bigger, we're watching more video and TV on the move, and these big files need fast download speeds. So EE's lead in the high-speed 4G mobile space gives BT a big boost.

And as competition for eyeballs in a multimedia, on-demand world intensifies, an extra 7.7 million customers to sell stuff to always helps. Rooting out duplication in the combined companies could save hundreds of millions a year, says BT.

Will those savings be passed on to customers in the form of lower bills? Almost certainly, if BT is serious about becoming a global media powerhouse.

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Twitter boss admits trolling failure

5 February 2015 Last updated at 11:43

Twitter's chief executive Dick Costolo has admitted that the company "sucks" when it comes to dealing with abuse and trolling on the service.

In a memo to staff, leaked to tech news website the Verge, he said that bullying behaviour on the network was driving users away.

He promised tougher action to deal with abusers.

A series of high-profile users have quit Twitter in recent months, citing online abuse.

In his memo to staff, Mr Costolo wrote: "We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years.

"It's no secret that the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day."

His words echo a December blog post in which the company admitted that it "was nowhere near being done making changes in this area".

It promises that, in coming months, it will bring in further user controls and improvements in the way users can report abusive accounts.

Abuse victims

The debate over so-called internet trolls - people who use social media accounts to abuse others - has been attracting headlines for several years now.

The daughter of actor Robin Williams signed off Twitter following taunts about her father's suicide.

Screenwriter Jane Goldman deleted her account following abuse of her family.

And Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in 2000, said she was leaving the social media network after years of online harassment.

But increasingly victims of trolling are confronting their bullies.

When a troll targeted US journalist Lindy West, setting up an account in her dead father's name, she wrote about it.

After describing some of the abuse, she received an email from the troll, apologising for his behaviour.

And Isabella Sorley, who was jailed after posting abusive messages on Twitter about feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, has been attempting to make amends, appearing in media interviews condemning her own words and urging other young people not to follow in her footsteps.

Twitter's confession about how it deals with online abuse comes ahead of rumours that it is about to strike a deal with Google to make its 140-character updates more searchable on Google.

The deal may be confirmed when the firm releases its financial results for 2014, expected on 5 February.

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Death threat hacker is jailed

4 February 2015 Last updated at 11:41

A hacker who hijacked computers to make death threats has been jailed for eight years.

Yusuke Katayama played a game of cat and mouse with the authorities, leading them to make numerous wrongful arrests.

He threatened a massacre at a comic book event, as well as to attack a school attended by the grandchildren of Japan's Emperor Akihito.

Katayama's campaign highlighted the difficulties the country's police force has had in dealing with cyber crime.

"He committed the crime, and the purpose of it was [for police] to make wrongful arrests," said presiding judge Katsunori Ohno at Tokyo District Court, adding that Katayama's actions had been "vicious".

Riddles

Throughout 2012, the 32-year-old used a virus to gain control of strangers' computers. He then issued threats - which appeared to come from the computer's owner - and a series of riddles that captured the attention of the national media.

Among the other threats made by Katayama - who went by the alias Demon Killer - was one to attack a plane.

The case highlighted the Japanese police's tendency to extract confessions from suspects, as four people owned up to crimes which the National Police Agency (NPA) later admitted they did not commit.

Computers belonging to each had been infected with a Trojan Horse virus, introduced via a link on the popular Japanese chat forum 2channel.

The NPA's chief apologised, acknowledging his force had been tricked by the hacker, and promising his cyber crime unit would improve.

Reward

Police held one falsely suspected person for several weeks before media and a cyber crime expert received anonymous messages containing information that investigators conceded could only have been known by the real culprit.

Katayama had taunted police in emails that sent them all over Japan.

In one message, investigators were told to go to Enoshima, an island off Tokyo, and to look for a cat that turned out to be wearing a collar on which was a memory card.

The card held details of the code and malicious program he had used to gain remote control of victim's computers.

In December 2012, the police offered a 3m yen (£16,822) reward for information leading to the arrest of the culprit.

But it was the cat that led police to arrest Katayama in February 2013, who was seen on CCTV footage with the animal.

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Android adware 'infects millions'

4 February 2015 Last updated at 12:52 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

Android users are being warned that several popular apps that were on the official Google Play store appear to have contained hidden code that made malicious ads pop up.

Security firm Avast said that one of the apps involved - a free version of the card game Durak - had been downloaded up to 10 million times, according to Google Play's own counter.

Google has now blocked access.

But one expert noted that the problem might be less widespread than feared.

Avast said that it first became aware of the issue after a member of the public contacted it after carrying out his own investigation into how his Nexus 5 smartphone had come to be infected with malicious code.

The "adware" was causing spurious pop-up messages to appear that had been made to look like system notifications. These told him his phone was running "slow" and that he needed to install new software to fix the problem.

If he followed the on-screen prompts he was then directed to download other apps, only some of which were legitimate.

"You get re-directed to harmful threats on fake pages, like dubious app stores and apps that attempt to send premium SMS behind your back or to apps that simply collect too much of your data for comfort while offering you no additional value," wrote Avast's malware analyst Filip Chytry.

The original apps were said to have held off showing the pop-ups until seven or more days after being installed, which the analyst suggested was intended to mask the fact that they were responsible.

"Most people won't be able to find the source of the problem and will face fake ads each time they unlock their device," he wrote.

"I believe that most people will trust that there is a problem that can be solved with one of the app's advertised 'solutions' and will follow the recommended steps, which may lead to an investment into unwanted apps from untrusted sources."

In addition to the Durak card game, other apps alleged to be involved include:

• A Russian language IQ test, which Google Play indicates had been downloaded up to five million times
• A Russian history educational tool, which Google Play indicates had been downloaded up to 50,000 times

A search by the BBC for other apps made by the same developers revealed dozens more apps, including video games, a psychology guide, wedding planning software and cookery tips - all of which have now been blocked.

The publishers involved have not replied to requests for comment.

A spokesman for Google said: "We're just confirming that all of the apps in the report have been suspended and nothing more."

Inflated numbers

Although Google Play's own site indicated the software had been downloaded many millions of times, one security researcher was cautious about the figures.

"I would take the numbers with a pinch of salt because one thing that malware authors might do is deliberately up the amount of downloads in order to make an app appear more popular than it really is," said Dr Steven Murdoch from University College London's information security research group.

"Google does scan for malware that it knows about and it also has some more advanced techniques to detect malicious behaviour.

"But these don't work 100% of the time and some apps do slip through the checks - and there is a continual cat and mouse game of people looking for malware and the authors trying to bypass the checks."

Although Avast is using the publicity it has generated to promote its own security software, Dr Murdoch noted that it too would fail to identify all new types of malware.

One alternative, he said, was to check reviews.

Several people who had downloaded the Durak card game had posted warnings on Google Play as far back as November 2013, that they suspected it was forcing pop-up ads to appear.

"But that's still not going to catch everything," Dr Murdoch added.

"Phone users ultimately have to trust the operating system vendor - whether that's Google or Apple [or someone else] to protect them."

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Alibaba begins drone delivery trials

4 February 2015 Last updated at 15:05 By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

China's biggest internet retailer says it has begun testing drone-based deliveries to hundreds of customers.

It says the trial will last three days and be limited to areas within a one-hour flight of its distribution centres in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The company's blog adds that it believes the technology has the potential to speed up deliveries.

Amazon, Google and parcel service UPS are among other companies carrying out more private trials of such aircraft.

Alibaba is using its drones to deliver orders for a specific type of ginger tea, helping limit the maximum weight of the packages to 340g (12oz).

The Tech in Asia blog, which was one of the first to report the development, said the experiment was being undertaken by Alibaba's Taobao division - an eBay-like marketplace that connects third-party sellers and buyers - and would involve 450 shoppers.

"Even though it's very limited in scope, Taobao is delivering real goods to real people, which is a step further than its Western counterpart Amazon has gone," Tech in Asia's Paul Bischoff told the BBC.

"That said, which company will actually roll out a fully functioning drone-based delivery service remains to be seen and [such a deployment] is still a long way off."

In 2013, a much smaller Chinese company - the InCake bakery - began delivering cakes to customers in Shanghai using remote-controlled drones. However, the trade was quickly halted by a local aviation watchdog, for operating without a licence.

Restrictions on the use of drones in the US have led Google to carry out its own drone-based delivery tests in Australia.

Safety concerns

Alibaba's founder, Jack Ma, has said he aims to expand his company's operations across the globe in order to reach a target of having two billion customers by 2025.

In 2014, the company raised a record $25bn (£16.4bn) when it listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

However, its ambitions were threatened last week by a high-profile spat with one of China's regulators, which alleged that Alibaba had not done enough to tackle the sale of counterfeit goods on Taobao, letting this "abscess fester until it became a danger".

Mr Ma later said that the regulator's actions were not supported by "certain government officials", and he indicated that the matter had been resolved.

The tests provide Taobao with a chance to generate more positive headlines.

But one expert said it would be wrong to dismiss them as a PR stunt, even if drone-based deliveries were still years away from becoming the norm.

"It's well established that drones can be flown autonomously above the tree-line - but below it, there are still a lot of issues," said Ravi Vaidyanathan, a robotics lecturer at Imperial College London.

"They will need to get around moving obstacles like children and pets when they come to land below the roof of your house. And the kind of co-ordination it would take to get airspace reserved for drone flights is also a big issue too.

"I don't think these problems are insurmountable, but the safety considerations must be addressed, and obstacle-free take-off and landing zones may need to be considered in the near term."

A video released by Alibaba indicates it will use quadcopter drones that fly far beyond the sightlines of their operators, travelling over roads, rivers and buildings before landing in open spaces close to apartment blocks.

However, the company has not provided technical details abut how it intends to achieve this.

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US watchdog to defend net neutrality

4 February 2015 Last updated at 17:11 By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

The chairman of the US's communications watchdog is proposing "strong" protections to ensure the principles of net neutrality are upheld.

In an article in Wired, Tom Wheeler said he intended to place new restrictions on how fixed line and mobile broadband providers handle data.

He plans to prevent the service providers from being able to create fast lanes for those willing to pay.

Verizon has indicated that it might begin legal action as a consequence.

Setting out his vision, Mr Wheeler described it as the "strongest open internet protections ever proposed by the FCC".

The principle of net neutrality is one that holds that all packets of data, whether it be an email, a webpage or a video, are treated equally on the network.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said he intended to reclassify internet service providers (ISPs) to make them like any other public utility, in order to ensure the watchdog can regulate them.

"These enforceable, bright-line rules will ban paid prioritisation, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services," he wrote.

"I propose to fully apply - for the first time ever - those bright-line rules to mobile broadband.

"My proposal assures the rights of internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone's permission."

This will mean far heavier regulation for both fixed line and wireless providers and will give the FCC the power to stop ISPs from blocking traffic from services which rival their own, or from setting up fast lanes for those internet companies prepared to pay.

In a statement to the BBC ahead of the announcement, Verizon refused to be drawn on the debate.

"We have not publicly stated, nor do we intend to speculate, as to what we may or may not do regarding an order that we have not seen and has not yet been approved," it said.

But, in a blog post written a few months ago, entitled Diminishing the Prospects of Further Net Neutrality Litigation, the ISP explained the likely course for it and other ISPs if the FCC did reclassify internet access.

"The ISPs, and perhaps some in the tech industry, will have no choice but to fight the sudden reversal of two decades of settled law," it wrote.

ISPs have long argued that, in a data-hungry world, there needs to be some kind of traffic prioritisation.

They point out that bandwidth heavy services such as Netflix are putting disproportionate strain on their networks and forcing them to invest billions in infrastructure. Such services, they argue, should share the costs of maintaining the network.

Obama intervention

Verizon kickstarted the current debate about net neutrality when it challenged the FCC's net neutrality rules in January 2014.

A court found in its favour, meaning Verizon could start charging content providers such as Netflix to carry its content through its pipes. It also meant that the FCC had to reassess its rules.

It immediately had two lobby groups putting pressure on it.

Advocates of a free and open internet insisted that net neutrality was one of the fundamental tenets of the internet - it had been built for everybody and it should remain as easy for a small start-up as for a big multi-national to access people via the network, they argued.

ISPs, on the other hand, argued that some sort of traffic prioritisation was necessary in the complex data-hungry world we now live in. Doing so did not damage commitment to an open internet, they contended.

Initially it seemed that the regulator was leaning on the side of the ISPs and favouring some sort of two-tiered internet but protests outside its headquarters, intense lobbying from the tech industry and the eventual intervention of President Obama, appear to have changed its mind.

In November the president waded into the row and called on the FCC to enact "the strongest possible rules" to protect an open internet.

Web founder

The debate about net neutrality is not just confined to the US.

In Europe some countries, such as the Netherlands, have already enshrined the principle in law.

Web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee called for the rest of Europe to follow suit in a guest blog on the European Commission's website, written this week.

The inventor of the world wide web said that maintaining net neutrality was "critical for the future of the web and the future of human rights, innovation and progress in Europe".

"When I designed the web, I deliberately built it as a neutral, creative and collaborative space," he added.

He cited research commissioned by the Dutch government which suggested that net neutrality "stimulates a virtuous circle between more competition, lower prices, higher connectivity and greater innovation".

The European Union is due to discuss the issue of net neutrality in March.

In the US, the changes also have some way to go before they become law.

The five FCC commissioners will vote on the proposal on 26 February.

Meanwhile some reports suggest that a group of Republicans in Congress are already working on a bill to undermine the proposals.

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Silk Road site's creator found guilty

5 February 2015 Last updated at 00:22

The man accused of operating Silk Road, a deep web marketplace where illegal drugs were sold, has been found guilty.

Ross Ulbricht, 30, was convicted by a Manhattan jury on all seven counts including narcotics and money laundering conspiracies.

Prosecutors said more than a million drug deals took place on Silk Road, earning Ulbricht about $18m in Bitcoins

His defence lawyers had argued he was framed for much of the site's activity and had quit the site.

The jury deliberated less than day before handing down the verdict, which leaves Ulbricht facing a possible life sentence.

US Attorney Preet Bharara said the conviction sent a clear message: "The supposed anonymity of the dark web is not a protective shield from arrest and prosecution."

Analysis Richard Taylor, BBC North America tech correspondent

This was a swift and damning verdict, and represents a significant victory for federal prosecutors after a meticulously planned sting.

But this trial was always about far more than one individual or even a website. The Silk Road, a site once seen as the poster-child for truly anonymous black market e-commerce, has been destroyed and its mastermind punished.

Officials say the outcome sends a clear message to others. But with millions of dollars amassed by Ulbricht in just two years, the online underworld was and remains a lucrative arena.

It is a fluid, mercurial environment. Within days of its closure in 2013, other Silk-Road rivals emerged in what has become a depressing game of "whack-a-mole" for the authorities.

Collectively, the only lesson these sites appear to have learnt thus far: the need for caution. Today's "darknet" administrators are more guarded in their dealings with their customers.

Whether today's verdict will prompt them to revise their strategy more widely is questionable.

Defence lawyer Joshua Dratel argued in closing statements that Ulbricht had started Silk Road but quit soon after creating it.

The trial had heard that Ulbricht was the "perfect fall guy" for the true owners of the website.

But Assistant US Attorney Serrin Turner argued Ulbricht was willing to do anything to protect Silk Road.

Emails showed a man willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on contracted killings to remove threats from the operation, the lawyer said.

Ulbricht was arrested in October 2013 and had pleaded not guilty to seven charges of narcotics trafficking, criminal enterprise, computer hacking and money laundering.

When the verdict was announced, his father dropped his head in his hands and his mother left the courtroom complaining that the defence had been barred from producing evidence that would help her son.

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VIDEO: Manchester to get start-up boost

Manchester has a proud computing history - such as being the birth place of the first computer to store program data electronically.

Now, its technology entrepreneurs have their sights set on becoming a major force in the world of start-ups.

The city is soon to become the home of Tech North, a government-backed organisation that will promote the interests of start-ups in cities in the north of England, similar to the Tech City initiative in London.

The BBC understands the headquarters of Tech North will be located in Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter, an area not unlike Old Street, the part of London home to many of the city's up-and-coming small tech firms.

On Thursday, a government-backed report examined the growth of technology "clusters" around the UK.

It suggested that as well as London - where the government has put considerable effort into promoting start-ups - other places such as Brighton, Liverpool, Belfast and Greater Manchester have shown strong growth in the digital industry.

The Tech Nation report findings have been published online as an interactive guide.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The digital economy has become an integral part of our country and the rapid growth of many digital businesses has confirmed Britain's position as a global hub of technology excellence."

Chancellor George Osborne added: "What's so exciting about today's Tech Nation report is that it shows how we're seeing the growth of tech businesses right across the country.

"As part of our plan for a truly national recovery we will do everything we can to support this growth and back the different tech clusters that are emerging around Britain."

The imminent arrival of Tech North in Manchester comes five years after Mr Cameron announced Tech City, an organisation set up to support start-ups around the so-called "Silicon Roundabout" in East London.

Since then, the government has been eager to stress its success - however there are some in the technology business who dispute the impact Tech City has had, arguing that start-ups were succeeding independently of any government help.

Doug Ward, who runs Spaceport, a start-up working space in Manchester, said he hopes the city can become one of Europe's top five destinations to run a tech company - alongside, he said, London, Dublin, Berlin and Stockholm.

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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Emoticons can rack up huge bills

5 February 2015 Last updated at 16:11 By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

People using the little icons which denote happy, sad or other emotions in their text messages could be racking up big bills, the BBC has learned.

Consumer website MoneySavingExpert has received a large number of complaints about the issue.

It seems to affect older models of phones, including some Samsung and Apple handsets.

In Scotland, a woman ran up bills totalling over £1,000 after adding emoticons to text messages.

Sad face

The issue revolves around how the handset interprets the icons, known as emoticons or emojis.

In some cases, especially on older handsets, the emoticons are converted into MMS (multi-media service) messages which can cost up to 40p each depending on the network.

MoneySavingExpert also found that, in some cases, users creating their own icons from full-stops, commas and brackets found they were converted into emoticons, running up the same charges.

"We have seen many complaints from our users who have racked up huge bills for sending what they thought were text messages," Guy Anker, managing editor, told the BBC.

Paula Cochrane told the Daily Record that she had no idea that the emoticons were being charged as picture messages.

She complained to her provider EE and also plans to take her case to the Scottish ombudsman, an independent organisation that settles consumer complaints.

"There are a number of factors which can affect whether customers are charged for sending an emoji usually by the settings on the handset and so it is a manufacturer - rather than a network - issue," an EE spokesperson told the BBC.

Unlimited texts

Mr Anker thinks that operators need to take some of the blame.

"It is worth complaining to mobile phone providers if this was not made clear enough to you when you would be charged for a picture message," he said.

"Why on earth would someone sending a text message think it would be sent as a picture message?"

Many people will have a contract which allows unlimited texts but this may not apply to picture messages, he added.

"If you send a lot of these you may exceed your allowance very quickly," he said.

O2 said it had seen other examples of text messages converting into picture messages.

"If a customer is using a smartphone to send text messages to more than one person at the same time, they could be charged the cost of sending an MMS. It can also happen when the message contains icons, emoticons and symbols or an email address.

And some apps (such as Facebook) that integrate with a customer's contact list in their smartphone may result in an MMS charge too," it said in a statement.

"To stop this happening, customers should make sure they don't include symbols, icons or emoticons and also disable the integration between their contact list and apps like Facebook."

Some smartphones will alert customers when an SMS has converted to an MMS, it added.

Mr Anker advised users to regularly check their bills and also to consider using free text messaging services such as Apple's iMessage (which is free when sent to another Apple device) or WhatsApp.

Clear rules

In the autumn, Ofcom conducted a survey looking at all the reasons why people received higher-than-expected bills.

Emoticons being billed as picture messages had affected 4% of those who responded to the survey.

"Mobile network providers decide how these messages are charged, and Ofcom has clear rules in place to ensure prices are transparent.

"We would expect operators to make clear how much MMS messages cost under your tariff, and when those charges would apply," a spokesman told the BBC.

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