News

Privacy and data protection

• March 02, 2023 02 Mar'23

  AI interview: Michael Osborne, professor of machine learning

  Artificial intelligence researcher speaks with Computer Weekly about the implications of a market-driven AI arms race and the overwhelming dominance of the private sector over the technology

• March 02, 2023 02 Mar'23

  Uber introduces dynamic pricing algorithm in London

  The dynamic pricing algorithm will allow Uber to set variable pay and pricing levels, but drivers are concerned about how their personal data will be used and the impact the algorithm will have on their livelihoods

• March 02, 2023 02 Mar'23

  WH Smith staff data accessed in cyber attack

  The retailer has said that customer data has not been affected by the incident as it is held in different systems, and that investigations into the attack are ongoing

• March 02, 2023 02 Mar'23

  Salt Labs identifies OAuth security flaw within Booking.com

  Security flaw in Booking.com OAuth implementation could be used to launch account takeovers, but researchers discovered and flagged the issue before it could be exploited in the wild

• March 01, 2023 01 Mar'23

  Data breaches in Australia on the rise, says OAIC

  Cyber security incidents were the cause of most data breaches, which rose by 26% in the second half of 2022, according to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

• February 24, 2023 24 Feb'23

  UK police have ‘culture of retention’ around biometric data

  A culture of retention around biometric data in UK policing is damaging public trust, says UK biometrics commissioner, who is calling for clear regulation to govern police use of biometric technologies

• February 22, 2023 22 Feb'23

  Researchers find new bug ‘class’ in Apple devices

  A group of vulnerabilities in Apple products that stem from the ForcedEntry exploit used by spyware firm NSO constitutes a whole new class of bug, say researchers at Trellix

• February 22, 2023 22 Feb'23

  Institute for Government cautions government to draw right lessons from pandemic

  The Institute for Government has published a policy document warning government not to draw wrong lessons from data sharing during pandemic

• February 20, 2023 20 Feb'23

  Singapore organisations struggle to operationalise threat intelligence

  Organisations in the city-state were satisfied with the quality of their threat intelligence, but they struggled to operationalise the information due to talent shortages and other challenges

• February 20, 2023 20 Feb'23

  Twitter 2FA changes bring more risks than benefits

  Twitter’s approach to nudging users away from insecure SMS-based 2FA is being questioned over its logic

• February 16, 2023 16 Feb'23

  Mock crime prediction tool profiles MEPs as potential criminals

  Developed by Fair Trials, the example crime prediction tool uses the same information as police systems to assess the likelihood of someone committing a crime in the future

• February 16, 2023 16 Feb'23

  How to tame the identity sprawl

  Organisations should find a comprehensive way to gain full visibility into their digital identities and leverage automation to tame the identify sprawl

• February 15, 2023 15 Feb'23

  Royal Mail refused to pay £66m LockBit ransom demand, logs reveal

  Leaked chat logs reveal Royal Mail has supposedly refused to pay a £66m ransom demand from the LockBit ransomware gang

• February 14, 2023 14 Feb'23

  UK authorities clamp down on illegal crypto ATMs

  The Financial Conduct Authority and West Yorkshire Police have disrupted a number of illegal crypto ATMs

• February 14, 2023 14 Feb'23

  Researcher exposes crypto scam network exploiting YouTube

  A massive network of fake YouTube videos promoted by automated sock puppet accounts is reeling in hundreds of cryptocurrency enthusiasts and persuading them to hand over their money, WithSecure researchers found

• February 13, 2023 13 Feb'23

  Russian spear phishing campaign escalates efforts toward critical UK, US and European targets

  Russian hacking group Seaborgium refines its tactics in a continuation of attacks against targets including not-for-profit organisations with geopolitical affiliations

• February 13, 2023 13 Feb'23

  Investigatory Powers Act: Home Office proposes rethink of safeguards on bulk data collection

  David Anderson KC will review the safeguards on intelligence service and police use of bulk datasets following a Home Office assessment that they are 'disproportionate'.

• February 13, 2023 13 Feb'23

  Police tech needs clear legal rules, says biometrics regulator

  Police use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition needs to be controlled by strict rules and mechanisms to ensure public trust

• February 10, 2023 10 Feb'23

  Social media platform Reddit breached in phishing attack

  An unspecified threat actor obtained access to internal documents, code and business systems at Reddit after stealing employee credentials in a phishing attack

• February 09, 2023 09 Feb'23

  How Check Point is keeping pace with the cyber security landscape

  Check Point Software CEO Gil Shwed talks up the company’s growth areas, its approach to cloud security and the impact of generative AI on cyber security

• February 08, 2023 08 Feb'23

  Russian hacking group Seaborgium targets SNP MP Stewart McDonald

  Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald says his personal emails have been hacked by a group linked to the Russian state in a targeted phishing attack

• February 08, 2023 08 Feb'23

  Prolific social media fraudster jailed for three years

  Ramzan Abubakarov of Hendon will serve three-year prison sentence after using Telegram to coordinate series of frauds which netted almost £2m

• February 08, 2023 08 Feb'23

  Campaigners lament lack of movement on Computer Misuse Act reform

  Westminster has opened a new consultation on proposed reforms to the Computer Misuse Act of 1990, but campaigners who want the law changed to protect cyber professionals have been left disappointed

• February 08, 2023 08 Feb'23

  India launches homegrown BharOS

  The homegrown Android-based mobile operating system could reduce India’s reliance on foreign software, but uncertainties around market adoption and software updates remain

• February 07, 2023 07 Feb'23

  LockBit cartel finally claims Royal Mail ransomware attack

  The LockBit ransomware gang claims it has stolen sensitive data from Royal Mail and will leak it later this week if its demands go unmet

• February 06, 2023 06 Feb'23

  Cops make arrests and seize drugs after hacking Exclu encrypted messaging app

  Police in the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland raided 80 addresses after covertly intercepting messages from the Exclu encrypted messaging app

• February 06, 2023 06 Feb'23

  Online banks still riddled with cyber security flaws, report says

  Online bank Virgin Money was found to have the weakest online and application security measures in a Which? study but Nationwide, TSB and The Co-Operative Bank all failed on multiple points, too.

• February 06, 2023 06 Feb'23

  The Security Interviews: How to overcome data protection compliance challenges

  Complying with the vast swathe of data protection legislation around the world is complex, especially for smaller organisations without the necessary expertise. Could the compliance process be simplified, and if so, how?

• February 03, 2023 03 Feb'23

  LockBit gang confirms Ion cyber attack as disruption continues

  The LockBit ransomware cartel has taken responsibility for this week’s attack on financial software firm Ion, and is threatening to leak stolen data on Saturday 4 February

• February 03, 2023 03 Feb'23

  FCA cracks down on misleading promos by social media influencers

  Social media is becoming a major part of the FCA’s work in clamping down on misleading financial advertising and promotions, with multiple influencers rapped for their behaviour

• February 03, 2023 03 Feb'23

  MEPs vote to amend platform worker directive

  MEPs have voted in favour of amendments to the European Commission’s platform worker directive that would introduce a presumption of employment and increase algorithmic transparency

• February 02, 2023 02 Feb'23

  Suspected LockBit ransomware attack causes havoc in City of London

  A suspected LockBit ransomware attack on trading software firm Ion has caused chaos for City of London traders

• February 02, 2023 02 Feb'23

  Arnold Clark customer data was stolen in Play ransomware attack

  Arnold Clark confirms data leaked on dark web was stolen from its systems in ransomware attack

• February 01, 2023 01 Feb'23

  Romance fraudsters stole £65m from Brits since 2020

  Online romance fraudsters have scammed Brits out of £65m in the past three years, according to retail bank TSB

• February 01, 2023 01 Feb'23

  NCSC for Startups inducts four companies into programme

  Four more startups are set to join the NCSC accelerator, which helps the UK government develop technology and approaches to pressing cyber security challenges

• February 01, 2023 01 Feb'23

  CryptoRom scam abuses Apple and Google app stores to claim victims

  Sophos researchers report on two fake apps used by romance scammers to lure victims into parting with their money, both of which were able to escape the attention of Apple and Google app store safeguards

• February 01, 2023 01 Feb'23

  Innovative Technology deploys age estimation tech in shops and pubs

  A company involved in Home Office-led trials of biometric age estimation technologies has begun rolling out its hardware to UK shops and pubs so they can use its facial recognition algorithm to assure customers’ ages

• February 01, 2023 01 Feb'23

  UK Cyber Council and ISACA launch audit, assurance programme

  The UK Cyber Security Council has teamed up with ISACA to partner on a new audit and assurance programme for security pros

• January 31, 2023 31 Jan'23

  MI5 unlawfully collected and held millions of people’s data

  Secretive court finds MI5 knowingly acted unlawfully in use of bulk surveillance warrants, and the Home Office continued granting warrants despite information the agency was operating outside the law

• January 30, 2023 30 Jan'23

  Data of 10 million JD Sports customers accessed in cyber attack

  Data on 10 million people who shopped online at JD Sports over a two-year period was accessed and potentially stolen in a cyber attack

• January 26, 2023 26 Jan'23

  Zero-trust implementations remain work in progress

  Just one in 10 large enterprises are expected to have mature and measurable zero-trust programmes in place by 2026, study finds

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  NCSC exposes Iranian, Russian spear-phishing campaign targeting UK

  Spear-phishing campaigns likely linked to Iranian and Russian espionage activity are targeting persons of interest in the UK, warns the NCSC

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  Arnold Clark cyber attack claimed by Play ransomware gang

  A cyber attack that struck car dealer Arnold Clark prior to Christmas has been claimed as the work of the Play ransomware cartel

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  Boards struggle to resolve cyber risk in digital supply chains

  Accelerated digitisation of supply chains is introducing more cyber risk for which many organisations seem unprepared, according to the BSI’s annual report on supply chain risk

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  Japan researchers develop new data encryption method

  Researchers from Tokyo University of Science have combined the best of homomorphic encryption and secret sharing in a new method to handle encrypted data

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  Chinese IoT suppliers expose UK businesses to espionage and data theft

  Chinese companies supplying network components, known as IoT modules, post a greater long-term threat to UK security than the now banned 5G supplier Huawei, according to a study by a Chinese expert and former diplomat

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  SSRF attacks hit 100,000 businesses globally since November

  There has been a dramatic increase in attacks exploiting the ProxyNotShell/OWASSRF exploit chains to target Microsoft Exchange servers

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  Fake online contest makes Yahoo! most phished brand of Q4 2022

  Yahoo! was the most frequently phished brand during the last three months of 2022, according to a report

• January 23, 2023 23 Jan'23

  Royal Society calls on public sector to pilot privacy tech

  The Royal Society says public sector bodies should lead the way in piloting privacy-enhancing technologies to unlock the value of data without compromising privacy and data rights, but lack of standards and incentives mean adoption is slow

• January 23, 2023 23 Jan'23

  NCSC warning over cyber risk to charity sector

  Cash-strapped charities without the resource to tackle their resilience deficit are increasingly at risk from malicious actors, says the NCSC