News

Privacy and data protection

• 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

• January 22, 2023 22 Jan'23

  Royal Mail making limited progress on ransomware recovery

  Royal Mail asks customers to hold back from sending post overseas as some services get back on track, while a report warns that disruptive attacks on critical infrastructure are set to become more common

• January 20, 2023 20 Jan'23

  Veeam survey finds ransomware blocks digital transformation

  Annual report shows secular trend to the cloud and increased use of containers, but prevalence of ransomware attacks means digital transformation is hindered

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  International post resumes thanks to Royal Mail ‘workarounds’

  Royal Mail has resumed limited international services after putting in place operational workarounds to bypass the impact of a ransomware attack

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  KFC, Pizza Hut parent shuts UK restaurants after cyber attack

  A ransomware attack on Yum! Brands, the parent organisation of restaurants including KFC and Pizza Hut, was forced to shut approximately 300 outlets in the UK following a ransomware attack by an unspecified group

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  Mailchimp suffers third breach in 12 months

  Email marketing service Mailchimp has suffered its third data breach in a year, but has been praised for being open about its latest attack

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  Newham Council rejects use of live facial-recognition tech by police

  Live facial-recognition technology should not be used by police in Newham until biometric and anti-discrimination safeguards are in place, according to a motion passed unanimously by the council, but the Met Police and the Home Office have indicated...

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  David Anderson KC to review UK surveillance laws

  Home Office commissions independent review of the Investigatory Powers Act, known as the snoopers’ charter. It will include a review of bulk datasets and government access to internet connection records held by phone and internet companies

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  Oracle and CBI: companies cautious, selective in 2023 IT, business investment

  Oracle and the CBI are seeing much the same picture of cautious technology investment of UK businesses in 2023, in the context of long Covid and the energy price inflation crisis

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  Ukraine cyber teams responded to more than 2,000 attacks in 2022

  The Ukrainian authorities responded to more than 2,000 major cyber incidents during 2022, and are blocking thousands more potential attacks every day

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Cloudflare urged to clamp down on pirates, counterfeiters

  A whitepaper produced by brand protection specialist Corsearch calls on Cloudflare to do more to stop online content piracy and sales of counterfeit goods

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Royal Mail promises ‘workarounds’ to restore services after ransomware attack

  Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson apologises to customers whose businesses are being disrupted by a ransomware attack and promises a ‘workaround’ will be in place in the near future

• January 16, 2023 16 Jan'23

  The Security Interviews: Protecting your digital self

  Our digital self – the virtual presence of who we are online – has a pervasive influence in the real world. People make judgements based on these digital depictions, so what can be done to ensure positive representation?

• January 14, 2023 14 Jan'23

  Experts concerned over silence around government obligation to review UK surveillance laws

  The government is required to review the UK’s surveillance law, the Investigatory Powers Act, but experts say they are in the dark about its plans. The National Crime Agency’s operation Venetic has highlighted the need for urgent reforms

• January 13, 2023 13 Jan'23

  Cabinet Office looks to expand public data sharing for digital ID

  Cabinet Office seeks feedback on proposed legislation to enhance data sharing across the public sector, in support of the UK government’s ambition to have a single sign-on identity-check system for all public services

• January 13, 2023 13 Jan'23

  LockBit cartel suspected of Royal Mail cyber attack

  The still-developing cyber incident at Royal Mail may be the work of the infamous LockBit ransomware operation

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  UK government completes trials of age estimation technology

  Government-led trials of age estimation and verification technologies for the sale of alcohol in nightlife venues and supermarkets have been completed, with both government and retail lobbyists pushing for legislation that would allow retailers to ...

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  Chrome vulnerability could have led to widespread data theft

  A dangerous vulnerability in Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers could have put billions of users’ files at risk of being stolen

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  Guardian confirms Christmas 2022 cyber attack was ransomware

  Guardian Media Group bosses confirm the 20 December cyber attack that left staff locked out of its London office and disrupted several key systems was an untargeted ransomware attack

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  NHS data platform costing £480m to supersede Covid-19 data store underway

  NHS England has invited suppliers to tender for a data platform that will supersede the Covid-19 data store controversial for the involvement of data analytics firm Palantir

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Davos 2023: Pervasive cyber crime and cyber security gaps pose severe risk to organisations

  Governments and organisations face tough trade-offs as they balance immediate problems caused by economic recession, energy shortages and rising interest rates with longer-term risks, including the impact of global warming