News

Privacy and data protection

• August 12, 2022 12 Aug'22

  Cyber criminal forum targets only Russia

  The Digital Shadows Photon Research Team has been investigating a pro-Ukraine cyber criminal forum called Dumps, which appears to be one of a kind

• August 11, 2022 11 Aug'22

  Cisco averts cyber disaster after successful phishing attack

  A potentially serious cyber attack on Cisco’s systems that began after a threat actor successfully exploited an employee’s carelessly secured credentials was thwarted without major damage

• August 11, 2022 11 Aug'22

  NHS may take a month to recover from supply chain attack

  Ransomware attack victim Advanced warns its NHS customers they could be waiting until early September to fully recover their operations

• August 10, 2022 10 Aug'22

  UK to surveil convicted migrants with facial recognition

  A Home Office scheme to biometrically scan the faces of convicted migrants who have already carried out punishments has come under fire from privacy and human rights groups for being discriminatory

• August 09, 2022 09 Aug'22

  Cyber insurance getting harder to obtain

  Organisations looking to shore up their security postures face more and more barriers to obtaining cyber insurance

• July 29, 2022 29 Jul'22

  Austrian data firm accused of selling malware, conducting cyber attacks

  Microsoft has accused DSIRF, an Austrian data services firm, of involvement in a string of cyber attacks

• July 28, 2022 28 Jul'22

  NCSC startups scheme turns focus to operational technology, SME security

  NCSC for Startups initiative turns its focus to supporting innovation around securing operational technology and addressing the challenges facing small businesses

• July 28, 2022 28 Jul'22

  Cyber criminals pivot away from macros as Microsoft changes bite

  As Microsoft resumes blocking macros by default in its Office application suite, reversing a temporary reversal, analysis from Proofpoint suggests the action has had a remarkable effect

• July 27, 2022 27 Jul'22

  Retail software firm PrestaShop warns users about SQL injection attacks

  Open source e-commerce platform PrestaShop warns thousands of small retailers that their customers’ credit card details may be at risk of compromise

• July 27, 2022 27 Jul'22

  Cyber security training ‘boring’ and largely ignored

  Two-thirds of employees don’t bother to pay attention to cyber security training – and the fault does not lie with them

• July 26, 2022 26 Jul'22

  Secret court asked to quash a decade of MI5 surveillance warrants following ‘systemic breaches’

  The culture at MI5 was to ‘prioritise’ missions ‘over everything else’, including compliance with safeguards designed to protect the public, the UK’s most secret court heard yesterday

• July 26, 2022 26 Jul'22

  No More Ransom initiative helps 1.5 million people in six years

  One and a half million people have now taken advantage of free ransomware decryption tools offered by a joint European project

• July 26, 2022 26 Jul'22

  Ducktail infostealer targets Facebook Business users

  Newly uncovered Ducktail operation targets individuals with access to Facebook Business service and tries to steal their accounts

• July 25, 2022 25 Jul'22

  Home Office ‘unlawfully’ approved MI5 bulk surveillance warrants

  MI5 provided ‘false information’ to the Home Office to secure bulk surveillance warrants, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard

• July 25, 2022 25 Jul'22

  Latest Atlassian Confluence vulnerability raises concerns

  CVE-2022-26138 is the second major vulnerability disclosure made for Atlassian’s Confluence collaboration platform in recent months

• July 22, 2022 22 Jul'22

  LinkedIn most impersonated brand in phishing attacks

  Social network LinkedIn, along with Microsoft and DHL, are just some of the brands that are most frequently imitated by cyber criminals conducting phishing attacks

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  GCHQ experts back scanning of encrypted phone messages to fight child abuse

  Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC, and Crispin Robinson, technical director of GCHQ, back client-side scanning software on mobile phones to detect child abuse

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  Russia-linked APTs targeted fleeing Ukrainian civilians

  Mandiant and the US authorities have shared details of a phishing campaign that spoofed humanitarian information on evacuation procedures to target Ukrainians fleeing Russian bombardment

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  UK government introduces data reforms legislation to Parliament

  Proposed changes to UK’s data protection regime include new grounds for data processing, significant powers for the secretary of state to direct the regime’s application, and fewer restrictions on law enforcement’s use of data

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  (ISC)² expands entry-level cyber programme after UK success

  Flush with success from a UK certification programme, reaching 100k in the UK, (ISC)² now wants to provide free security certification to a million people worldwide

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Transatlantic PET contest open for entries

  A joint UK-US innovation prize challenge for developers of privacy-enhancing technologies has opened for entries

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Russia’s Cozy Bear abusing Dropbox, Google Drive to target victims

  Russian APT known as Cozy Bear has become adept at quickly incorporating popular cloud storage services into its attack chain to avoid detection

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  How hostile government APTs target journalists for cyber intrusions

  Proofpoint shares data on multiple campaigns of cyber intrusions against journalists originating from threat actors aligned to the governments of China, Iran, North Korea and Turkey

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  Government pauses Online Safety Bill’s progress

  The government has paused the Online Safety Bill’s journey towards becoming law, amid timetable pressure

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  ICO wants to ‘empower people through information’

  Information Commissioner’s Office sets out commitment to safeguard the information rights of the most vulnerable people in UK society

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  Slippery phish wriggles around MFA protections, says Microsoft

  Microsoft’s threat researchers share details of a phishing campaign that hit 10,000 organisations, against which standard multifactor authentication provides little defence

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  Digital break-up kit to help women get out of bad relationships safely

  Domestic abuse charity Refuge teams up with Avast to equip women with the knowledge to effectively and safely end a relationship digitally

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  ICO calls for review into government use of private email and WhatsApp messages

  Information Commissioner’s Office reprimands Department of Health and Social Care after ministers and officials conducted government business on their own email accounts and messaging apps

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  Brits say social media must do more to block harmful content

  UK citizens want social media companies to do more to prevent harmful content appearing on their platforms

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  MaliBot Android malware spreading fast, says Check Point

  The MaliBot malware is becoming a persistent and widespread problem, and Android users should be on their guard, says Check Point

• July 08, 2022 08 Jul'22

  Sweden and GDPR – four years on

  Swedish data protection coordinator talks to Computer Weekly four years into the General Data Protection Regulation

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  MI5, FBI chiefs warn of Chinese cyber espionage threat

  In a joint appearance in London, MI5 director general Ken McCallum and FBI director Chris Wray warn of the growing threat posed by the Chinese government to UK and US interests

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  UK signs ‘in principle’ data adequacy agreement with South Korea

  Bilateral adequacy agreement will allow businesses to conduct cross-border data transfers with minimal restrictions

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  Amid NSO lawsuit, Apple expands spyware protections

  Apple previews a new feature called Lockdown Mode to protect iPhone and iPad users from ‘mercenary spyware’

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  Latest Marriott data breach not as serious as others

  Questions are again being raised over Marriott’s cyber security practices following yet another incident, but fortunately it seems limited in its scope, and the company is responding appropriately

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  Tech companies face pressure over end-to-end encryption in Online Safety Bill

  An amendment to the Online Safety Bill, currently going through Parliament, will put pressure on tech companies over end-to-end encrypted messaging services

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  The Security Interviews: Inside Russia’s Ukraine information operation

  Computer Weekly speaks to Craig Terron of Recorded Future about delving deep inside the Russian disinformation machine, and how the Kremlin’s strategy is set to evolve

• July 06, 2022 06 Jul'22

  Plexal seeks new scaleups for next phase of Cyber Runway

  Established security startups looking to grow and scale their operations are being invited to join the next phase of Plexal’s Cyber Runway programme

• July 06, 2022 06 Jul'22

  ESET: Lazarus APT hit aero, defence sector with fake job ads

  ESET researchers present new findings into a series of cyber attacks on the aerospace and defence sectors by North Korea’s Lazarus crime syndicate

• July 05, 2022 05 Jul'22

  NCSC CEO: Why we should run towards crises to elevate cyber security

  National Cyber Security Centre CEO Lindy Cameron, the 2022 Computer Weekly UKtech50 Most Influential Person in UK IT, reflects on a career immersed in crisis management, and how she is using this to elevate cyber security standards across the country

• July 04, 2022 04 Jul'22

  MPs call for ban on Chinese surveillance camera technology

  Nearly 70 MPs have called on the government to ban Chinese camera technology that is widely used by UK government agencies despite links to human rights abuses in China

• July 04, 2022 04 Jul'22

  Government rejects Lords police tech inquiry recommendations

  The government has largely rejected the findings and recommendations of a House of Lords inquiry into police tech, which called for an overhaul of how police deploy artificial intelligence and algorithmic technologies

• July 04, 2022 04 Jul'22

  Assange appeals against Priti Patel’s extradition order

  WikiLeaks founder is expected to raise concerns over the political nature of his prosecution, the likelihood of him receiving a fair trial, and the risk of a coercive plea bargain

• June 30, 2022 30 Jun'22

  ICO to cut back on fines for public sector data breaches

  Information commissioner John Edwards sets out a revised approach to how the ICO handles data breaches in the public sector, saying fining victims risks punishing the public twice over

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  Urgent need for new laws to govern biometrics, legal review finds

  Independent review says new framework is needed to clear up legal and ethical concerns over the use of biometric data and technologies, which can impact privacy, freedom of expression and other human rights

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  New cyber extortion op appears to have hit AMD

  Semiconductor specialist AMD has confirmed it is investigating reports that a ‘bad actor’ has stolen hundreds of gigabytes of its data

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  Romance scammers exploit Ukraine war in cynical campaign

  Romance scammers can make easy money exploiting people looking for love, but in this newly observed campaign linked to the Ukraine war they are playing on deeper emotions

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  Spy agencies need ‘independent authorisation’ to access telecoms data, say judges

  The High Court has ruled that UK intelligence agencies should seek independent authorisation before accessing phone and internet records during criminal investigations

• June 28, 2022 28 Jun'22

  Proposed changes to copyright law open doors for AI data mining

  Update to copyright law will mean researchers who already have access to data will not require extra permission from copyright owner to run data mining algorithms, removing barriers to artificial intelligence research and development

• June 28, 2022 28 Jun'22

  Veritas aims at autonomous backup discovery and provisioning

  Veritas bets on a backup platform that can discover all enterprise data – on-premise and in the cloud – and make its own decisions about the optimal place to store copies