News

IT security

May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Irish health service hit by major ransomware attack

IT systems in hospitals across Ireland have been switched off following a significant ransomware attack
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Dutch police used deep learning model to predict threats to life

Dutch police developed a deep learning model in their EncroChat investigation to predict which messages contain serious threats to life
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Okta and Auth0 to expand APAC coverage

Okta’s acquisition of rival Auth0 will enable both companies to expand their footprint in the Asia-Pacific region as demand for identity management services soars amid the pandemic
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
NHSX data strategy due in ‘a few weeks’

NHSX director of policy and strategy Simon Madden says the long-awaited strategy is expected to “trigger huge debates” on issues such as access, choice and transparency, and will be published in draft form shortly to allow for consultation

May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Publishing exploit code does more harm than good, says report

Disclosing exploit code before patches are available gives malicious actors a ‘massive’ head-start, says Kenna Security
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Biden beefs up public-private security cooperation

Joe Biden has signed a new Executive Order to harden US cyber security and government networks, with an emphasis on information sharing
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Refuge launches tech safety site for domestic abuse victims

Created with the help of survivors, Refuge’s resource site offers guidance on protecting yourself from tech-enabled domestic abuse
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
CISOs weathered the pandemic well, but at personal cost

Over 80% of CISOs think their existing security capabilities stayed strong during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but now face stress and burnout on an unheard-of scale
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Verizon DBIR underscores year of unprecedented cyber challenge

Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report draws predictable conclusions as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
UK government publishes Online Safety Bill draft

Bill builds on previous commitments by the government, which has added new measures to uphold democracy and freedom of speech while making tech giants more accountable

May 12, 2021 12 May'21
Inside DarkSide: Researchers share intel on break-out cyber gang

Security researchers swap information on the newly famous DarkSide ransomware gang, the group that doesn’t appear to understand what ‘being a criminal’ actually means
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
CyberUK 2021: NCSC encourages startups to invest in cyber

National Cyber Security Centre is launching bespoke cyber security guidance aimed at the UK’s valuable startup community
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
UK to fund national cyber teams in Global South

Government will commit millions of pounds to supporting vulnerable countries in establishing cyber capacity
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
Microsoft fixes four critical bugs on lighter Patch Tuesday

Four critical RCE vulnerabilities put users of various Microsoft products at risk, and should be patched right away
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
The Security Interviews: Why helpful bots could hurt vaccine roll-outs

Earlier this year, spikes in traffic to websites containing information about Covid-19 vaccines were attributed by Imperva to automated bots scraping data. Why is that a problem?
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
UK Plc invited to sign up for Early Warning of cyber incidents

The launch of the Early Warning incident notification service is among the enhancements being made by the NCSC to its service packages
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
NCSC cyber guidance targets cloud and home working

The NCSC’s refreshed cyber security guidance for larger organisations places particular emphasis on cloud, home working and ransomware
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
Collaboration key to success of UK’s Cyber Security Council

The founders of the UK’s Cyber Security Council have been setting out their plans to professionalise the cyber sector at the NCSC’s CyberUK 2021 event
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
Government to reform Computer Misuse Act

Home secretary Priti Patel will explore reforming the Computer Misuse Act as calls mount for the 31-year-old law to be updated to reflect the changed online world
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
SolarWinds CEO calls for collective action against state attacks

SolarWinds CEO tells NCSC’s CyberUK conference he is exploring the possibility of collaborating with other companies on collective cyber action against attacks backed by nation states
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
Swedish court finds ambiguities in hacked EncroChat cryptophone evidence

Defence lawyer claims evidence obtained by hacking the EncroChat encrypted phone network has ‘no legal’ value following Swedish appeal court ruling
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack has grave consequences

The ramifications of a major ransomware attack against a US fuel pipeline operator could spread far and wide
May 10, 2021 10 May'21
NCSC Active Cyber Defence blocks surge of pandemic scams

The NCSC responded to a surge in online scams last year as it moved to protect both the general public and critical national services during the pandemic
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
NCSC, CISA publish new information on Russia’s Cozy Bear

New intelligence from UK and US cyber agencies suggests that APT29, or Cozy Bear, has been switching up its tactics
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
NCSC publishes smart city security guidelines

Guidance for local authorities, IT and cyber professionals aims to ensure the security of connected, smart city projects
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
Cyber accreditation to improve legal standing of security pros

Institute of Cyber Digital Investigations Professionals will help incident responders and cyber investigators get the professional recognition they deserve
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
Reddit enlists HackerOne to run public bug bounty programme

Online community platform is opening up its HackerOne bug bounty programme to any ethical hacker who cares to have a look under the bonnet
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
Ransomware, supply chain attacks show no sign of abating

Security experts at Black Hat Asia 2021 discuss the state of ransomware and supply chain attacks, two of the most common attack vectors that offer high returns for threat actors
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Government urged to add scam protections to Online Safety Bill

Group of organisations calls for the government to use the Online Safety Bill to protect people from cyber scams
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Scammers accidentally reveal fake Amazon review data

More than 13 million records relating to an organised fake review scam have been found on an unsecured ElasticSearch database, implicating hundreds of thousands of people in unethical behaviour
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Google to introduce mandatory MFA for users

In future, holders of Google accounts will have no option but to use multifactor authentication if they want to use the firm’s services
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
HSBC blocks £249m in UK fraud with voice biometrics

HSBC voice recognition technology has reduced telephone banking fraud as demand for the channel increases
May 05, 2021 05 May'21
Why ITAM can aid IT-fuelled business recovery

As a sense of normality returns, we look at why IT asset management is the stealth tool for clearing a path towards greater digitisation
May 05, 2021 05 May'21
Dysfunctional cyber, network teams disrupt digital transformation

Despite shared goals, combative and dysfunctional relationships within specialist tech teams are putting digital transformation projects at risk, according to a report
May 05, 2021 05 May'21
Sophos: How timely intervention stopped a ProxyLogon attack

A recent incident at an undisclosed customer sheds new light on how malicious actors exploit unpatched Microsoft Exchange servers
May 04, 2021 04 May'21
Half of organisations breached via a third party in 12 months

New report highlights the risks of outsourcing key business processes without paying due care and attention to your service provider’s security
May 03, 2021 03 May'21
New standard to simplify IoT device onboarding

Fido Alliance’s device onboarding protocol will automate the process of connecting internet-of-things devices to device management platforms while improving security
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
EncroChat: Top lawyer warned CPS of risk that phone hacking warrants could be unlawful

Lord David Anderson QC warned prosecutors that there were formidable arguments against the lawfulness of a police operation to infiltrate the encrypted phone network, EncroChat
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
MPs accuse government of unduly interfering in information commissioner appointment

Cross-party group of MPs says government is influencing the appointment of a new information commissioner by explicitly seeking a candidate who will support its policy agenda, rather than regulate independently
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
End of support for Build 1909 leaves some Windows open to attack

Biannual Windows updates free IT staff from major updates, but some people prefer older builds of Windows, which leaves a gaping security hole
April 29, 2021 29 Apr'21
G7 countries to cooperate on digital regulation

Digital and technology ministers outline their agenda for how technology can be used to facilitate the post-Covid recovery, signalling closer collaboration in key areas of the digital economy
April 29, 2021 29 Apr'21
Northern Ireland pilots security training plan for 16-25s

Pilot scheme in Northern Ireland aims to widen access to cyber security careers
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Covid-19 security challenges leave bank customers at risk

Challenges arising from the pandemic have left gaping holes in banking security, putting consumers at risk of fraud
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Recruiters can’t afford to hold out for cyber ‘unicorns’

The perfect security candidate is hard to find, so hiring policy needs to be more pragmatic
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Office 365 compromise likely led to Merseyrail ransomware attack

Compromise of Merseyrail employee data seems to have begun after a key email account was hacked
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
NHS App to serve as vaccine passport for foreign holidays

Existing NHS App will have vaccine passport functionality added to it, transport secretary confirms
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
UK supermarkets to trial age estimation tech for alcohol purchases

Biometric age estimation technology developed by Yoti to be tested in UK supermarkets for alcohol purchases as part of government-led digital identities initiative
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Total cost of ransomware attack heading towards $2m

Sophos’ latest study finds that ransomware attacks are proving increasingly disruptive to their victims’ finances
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Leaky Azure storage account puts software developer IP at risk

Source code for multiple products was left exposed in an unsecured Microsoft Azure cloud storage account, say researchers, but attributing responsibility for the error has proved difficult
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Apple OS updates patch multiple security holes

The much-heralded release of the privacy-centric iOS 14.5 also brings patches for multiple CVEs, and users of Apple smartphones, tablets and notebooks are best advised to update as soon as possible