News

Privacy and data protection

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  What’s happening with quantum-safe cryptography?

  Chinese researchers claim quantum technology is reaching a point where a quantum device will soon be able to crack RSA 2048 public key encryption

• January 08, 2023 08 Jan'23

  Vulnerable organisations to get free Cyber Essentials support

  Charities and legal aid firms are among those to be offered free security checks and certifications from the National Cyber Security Centre

• January 06, 2023 06 Jan'23

  Proposed digital fraud refund rules risk excluding many victims

  Proposals to establish a fraud refund mechanism in the UK risk excluding many victims of digitally enabled fraud, a major bank has warned

• January 06, 2023 06 Jan'23

  Vice Society cyber gang targeted multiple UK schools

  The Vice Society ransomware gang has made a habit of attacking educational institutions, and now appears to have struck multiple schools, colleges and universities in the UK

• January 06, 2023 06 Jan'23

  Meta to appeal £345m fine for Facebook and Instagram privacy breaches

  Social media company Meta is to appeal after the Irish Data Protection Commission fined the company for breaching GDPR

• January 05, 2023 05 Jan'23

  Fallout from Guardian cyber attack to last at least a month

  The Guardian newspaper’s offices remained shut into the New Year following a supposed ransomware attack, with disruption likely to last some time

• January 03, 2023 03 Jan'23

  Test of digital ID tech at Surrey nightclub proclaimed success

  The majority of visitors to a Camberley venue who piloted a digital identification app developed by 1account said they found it easy to use and preferred it to standard physical ID

• January 02, 2023 02 Jan'23

  China and India governments among top targets for cyber attackers

  Chinese and Indian governments targeted by hacktivists and ransomware groups out to make statement or expose flaws in their respective security postures

• December 29, 2022 29 Dec'22

  Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

• December 28, 2022 28 Dec'22

  Complaints that NCA failed in duty of candour over EncroChat warrants ‘incredible’, court hears

  NCA lawyers argue that a decision by an NCA intelligence officer to disclose notes of a key meeting after two-and-a-half years boosts her credibility as a witness

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  NCA ‘wrong-footed’ defence lawyers after agreeing to take expert evidence on EncroChat ‘as read’

  The National Crime Agency argued at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal that expert evidence it agreed to ‘take as read’ is limited, flawed and often based on an incorrect interpretation of the law

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 cyber security stories of 2022

  The war in Ukraine loomed large over the cyber security news agenda, but 2022 also saw growing awareness of open source security, discussion around cyber insurance, and more besides

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2022

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2022

  Cyber crime continued to hit the headlines in 2022, with impactful cyber attacks abounding, digitally enabled fraud ever more widespread and plenty of ransomware incidents

• December 16, 2022 16 Dec'22

  Shiseido data breach victims plan legal action over fake companies

  Employees and former employees of cosmetics firm Shiseido whose data was stolen in a recent breach are planning group legal action after their information was used to establish fraudulent companies in their names

• December 16, 2022 16 Dec'22

  Defence lawyers claim NCA witness gave unreliable evidence on EncroChat hacking operation

  National Crime Agency argues that the lawfulness of surveillance warrants issued to hack the EncroChat phone network should only be considered in the light of facts and assessments known at the time

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  Lego fixes dangerous API vulnerability in BrickLink service

  The Lego Group has remediated two potentially serious API vulnerabilities in its BrickLink digital resale platform, just in time for Christmas

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  Cops dismantle 48 DDoS-for-hire websites

  An operation combining law enforcement from the UK, US, Netherlands and Europol has disrupted 48 of the world’s most popular DDoS booter websites

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  NCA officer questioned in Investigatory Powers Tribunal over failure to disclose EncroChat notes

  EncroChat hacking warrant was unlawful and in breach of human rights law, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal hears

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Private health provider data could be shared with NHS England

  Plans are advancing to create a single source of healthcare data in England combining both private providers and the NHS to avoid a repeat of the Ian Paterson scandal

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Advanced Azov data wiper likely to become active threat

  Check Point deep dives into an emergent data wiper strain known as Azov, which is making waves with hundreds of new samples being submitted to VirusTotal daily

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  NHS gets new guidance on public benefits of data sharing

  NHS national data guardian Nicola Byrne has published new guidance on how health and social care bodies should approach the task of evaluating public benefit when using data for purposes beyond individual care

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  EU issues draft data adequacy decision in favour of US

  The European Commission has concluded that the United States does ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the European Union and will now launch the process towards the adoption of an adequacy decision

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  Finnish government launches information security voucher scheme

  Finland’s government is offering businesses financial support to help them improve their cyber security

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  More Uber data exposed in possible supply chain attack

  A second incident affecting ride-sharing app Uber appears to have originated through a third party in a supply chain attack

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  Customer frustrations mount as Rackspace investigation proceeds

  Rackspace says it is making progress on restoring services following a ransomware attack on its Hosted Exchange business, but customers are becoming frustrated with a lack of communication

• December 12, 2022 12 Dec'22

  Cloud-based fingerprint system for UK police nears completion

  Police Digital Service announces that a new cloud-based fingerprint system developed under its Transforming Forensics programme is nearly complete, but data protection concerns around the use of US-based cloud providers remain

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  Iranian APT seen exploiting GitHub repository as C2 mechanism

  A subgroup of the Iran-linked Cobalt Mirage APT group has been caught taking advantage of the GitHub open source project as a means to operate its latest custom malware

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  Online Safety Bill returns to Parliament

  MPs and online safety experts have expressed concern about encryption-breaking measures contained in the Online Safety Bill as it returns to Parliament for the first time since its passage was paused in July

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  IT system limitations a factor in passport delays

  Limitations in the UK’s passport office IT system led to delays in applicants receiving their documents during a recent period of high demand

• December 08, 2022 08 Dec'22

  Consumers to get new protections against dodgy apps

  Government’s new code of practice will impose new privacy and security measures on app store operators and developers

• December 08, 2022 08 Dec'22

  Apple to tap third party for physical security keys

  Apple is launching a number of new security protections, including the addition of third-party-provided hardware security keys

• December 08, 2022 08 Dec'22

  Australia to develop new cyber security strategy

  New strategy to be developed by top cyber security experts aims to turn Australia into a global cyber leader, among other goals

• December 07, 2022 07 Dec'22

  Rackspace email outage confirmed as ransomware attack

  An ongoing outage affecting Rackspace email customers is the result of a ransomware attack

• December 06, 2022 06 Dec'22

  EU fails to protect human rights in surveillance tech transfers

  Transfers of surveillance technology from the European Union to African governments are carried out without due regard for the human rights impacts, the European Ombudsman has found after a year-long investigation into the European Commission’s ...

• December 06, 2022 06 Dec'22

  Don’t become an unwitting tool in Russia’s cyber war

  Researchers have turned up evidence that enterprise networks are being co-opted by Russian threat actors to launch attacks against targets in Ukraine. How can you avoid becoming an unwitting tool in a state-backed attack?

• December 05, 2022 05 Dec'22

  Fake investment ads persist on Meta’s social networks

  Online adverts for investment scams relating to property and crypto assets are still getting past measures designed to stop them

• December 02, 2022 02 Dec'22

  Twitter ‘replacement’ Hive Social shuts off service in privacy alert

  Hive Social, a recently established social media network, has temporarily closed its servers to address deep structural privacy issues identified by ethical hackers

• December 01, 2022 01 Dec'22

  MI6 chief’s hacked emails attacked MI5 and betrayed British spy operations in China

  Former UK spy boss Richard Dearlove leaked names of MI6 secret agent recruiters in China to back an aggressive right-wing US campaign against tech company Huawei. His emails were hacked and then leaked – probably by Russian intelligence

• December 01, 2022 01 Dec'22

  LastPass probes new cyber incident related to August attack

  The August 2022 cyber attack on LastPass seems to have begat another incident, according to company CEO Karim Toubba

• November 30, 2022 30 Nov'22

  Microsoft 365 banned in German schools over privacy concerns

  German schools cannot legally use Microsoft Office 365 over lack of clarity about how data is collected, shared and used, as well as the potential for unlawful transfer of European citizens’ personal data to the US

• November 30, 2022 30 Nov'22

  South Staffs Water customer data leaked after ransomware attack

  Personal data of water utility’s direct debit customers exposed on the dark web following a Clop ransomware attack

• November 29, 2022 29 Nov'22

  Cyber criminals exploiting naked TikTok ‘challenge’

  Malware operators lured targets by promising them they would be able to view nude videos of TikTok users

• November 27, 2022 27 Nov'22

  Plexal inducts six into cyber leadership scheme

  Tech innovation hub Plexal is expanding its Cyber Runway programme with a new Ignite strand dedicated to supporting high-potential security leaders

• November 25, 2022 25 Nov'22

  Data management, backup becoming the CISO's responsibility

  More and more CISOs are taking on responsibility for wider data management strategies, and this trend looks set to grow next year

• November 24, 2022 24 Nov'22

  Not-for-profit aims to encourage 1,300 girls into cyber careers

  CyNam, a not-for-profit cyber security initiative, is collaborating with industry, education providers and government to encourage young women into cyber

• November 23, 2022 23 Nov'22

  UK police arrest 120 in largest-ever cyber fraud crackdown

  The administrator and more than 100 users of the iSpoof.cc cyber fraud website have been arrested in a major counter-fraud operation led by the Metropolitan Police

• November 23, 2022 23 Nov'22

  South Korea data adequacy pact brings £15m Brexit bonus

  UK government finalises a data adequacy agreement with South Korea, saying it will unlock a post-Brexit business bonus of just under £15m

• November 23, 2022 23 Nov'22

  Dutch national cyber security strategy aims to protect digital society

  Cabinet sets up national cyber security strategy to make the Netherlands digitally secure

• November 22, 2022 22 Nov'22

  Ducktail spins new tales to hijack Facebook Business accounts

  The increasingly active Ducktail cyber crime operation is refining its operations, seeking new methods to compromise its victims’ Facebook Business accounts