News

Privacy and data protection

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  UK’s Labour Party hit by third-party data breach

  Data on Labour Party members was recently compromised in an apparent cyber attack on a third-party data processor

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  BlackMatter ransomware crew shuts down, leaves victims in a bind

  The BlackMatter ransomware gang appears to be winding down its activities, possibly due to pressure from law enforcement

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  Adelaide healthcare network digitises manual processes

  The Central Adelaide Local Health Network has digitised manual processes in more than 20 speciality areas to improve patient experience and alleviate the workloads of frontline staff

• November 02, 2021 02 Nov'21

  Electronic waste excluded from COP26 agenda

  Data sanitation industry group calls on UK government to add electronic waste to the climate summit’s agenda

• November 02, 2021 02 Nov'21

  Convicted Silk Road admin stripped of £500k in crypto earnings

  Jailed Silk Road administrator Thomas White, aka Cthulhu, has been ordered to hand over more than £490,000 of illicit earnings

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  Businesses and governments urged to take action over Trojan Source supply chain attacks

  Businesses and governments have been put on alert to guard against Trojan Source hacking attacks

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  MPs and Lords grill Facebook over online safety efforts

  Facebook answers British lawmakers’ questions about the social media giant’s efforts to ensure the safety of its users, as part of legislative security of the government's proposed online safety bill

• October 29, 2021 29 Oct'21

  Facebook rebrands to Meta amid continuing controversies

  Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta to support its work on the next generation of “social technologies”, but concerns around trust and privacy persist

• October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21

  CIA sought revenge against Julian Assange over hacking tool leaks, court hears

  The CIA discussed kidnapping Julian Assange after WikiLeaks published thousands of documents revealing its arsenal of hacking tools, defence lawyers tell a London court

• October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21

  Illegal state surveillance in Africa ‘carried out with impunity’

  Analysis of surveillance laws and practices in six African countries finds that existing privacy laws are failing to protect citizens from illegal digital surveillance, which is being facilitated and enabled by global tech companies

• October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21

  How ransomware crews pile on the pressure to get victims to pay

  Sophos researchers share some of the more common tactics ransomware gangs use to pressurise their victims into paying up

• October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21

  ‘No-one extradited from UK to US has committed suicide,’ US tells court in Assange appeal

  US government claims that a district judge has given WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a ‘trump card’ to avoid extradition  

• October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21

  Government commits millions to security investment

  Spending Review adds more than £750m of funding to improve cyber security resilience across government

• October 26, 2021 26 Oct'21

  DarkMarket takedown results in 150 arrests

  A coordinated operation by law enforcement has seen 150 taken into custody amid allegations of buying or selling illicit goods on the dark web

• October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21

  MEPs vote to expand Europol data mandate

  The European Parliament has voted in favour of expanding Europol’s mandate to process data and develop AI tools, but critics claim it contradicts a previous vote which opposed using new technologies to predict crime

• October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21

  US intelligence agencies issue advisory on BlackMatter gang

  Joint advisory on ransomware gang warns about potential of further attacks on critical infrastructure providers

• October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21

  Police IT buyers should compel suppliers to prove AI claims

  House of Lords told that UK law enforcement bodies should use their position as buyers to compel private sector suppliers to divulge more information about how their AI-powered technologies work

• October 18, 2021 18 Oct'21

  How Samlesbury, Lancashire became the home of the National Cyber Force

  The National Cyber Force, a new branch of the military, is gearing up to fight battles in cyber space from the fields of Lancashire. Its presence is expected to bring a high-tech renaissance to the region

• October 14, 2021 14 Oct'21

  Apple scheme to detect child abuse creates serious privacy and security risks, say scientists

  Apple’s plan to automatically scan photos to detect child abuse would unduly risk the privacy and security of law-abiding citizens and could open up the way to surveillance, say the world’s top cryptographic experts

• October 14, 2021 14 Oct'21

  NHS Digital enhances in-house cyber awareness drive

  Keep IT Confidential campaign aims to help NHS staff understand more about security threats and learn how to reduce risk

• October 13, 2021 13 Oct'21

  FCA warns over future hybrid working security risks

  Earlier this week, the Financial Conduct Authority issued fresh guidance to regulated organisations on keeping hybrid workers safe and secure

• October 13, 2021 13 Oct'21

  Former signals intel leader named godfather of UK security

  Sixth annual Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards honours former Royal Corps of Signals colonel and infosec pioneer John Doody

• October 13, 2021 13 Oct'21

  Australia unveils ransomware action plan

  The Australian government has established a task force to address the ransomware menace and is proposing legislation to mandate reporting of ransomware incidents by businesses

• October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21

  BCS calls on government to retain protections against AI

  BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, wants the government to retain protections that allow people to have decisions about them made by an AI reviewed by humans if needed

• October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21

  Ban UK police use of facial-recognition, House of Lords told

  Experts giving evidence to the House of Lords have said that UK police use of facial-recognition technology is disproportionate and ineffective, and further questioned the utility of algorithmic crime ‘prediction’ tools

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  Covid-19 will loom over cyber strategy for years to come

  In remarks delivered to a Chatham House conference, NCSC head Lindy Cameron reflects on the security challenges facing the UK, and sets out some plans for the future

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  Sensitive documents to stay with whistleblower after deadline for agreement for their return passes

  A deadllne to agree the safe return of the sensitive banking details of former and current NatWest Group customers has passed without agreement

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  Singapore refreshes cyber security strategy

  The city-state updates its national cyber security strategy to shore up the security of critical infrastructure and enterprises while growing its cyber security industry, among other goals

• October 08, 2021 08 Oct'21

  Craft beer specialist Brewdog fixes serious app vulnerability

  Vulnerability in brewer’s mobile app could have resulted in serious consequences for its shareholders and customers

• October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21

  ICO expresses concerns over its future independence

  In its response to the government’s data protection consultation, the Information Commissioner’s Office has raised worries over its future ability to function independently of government interference

• October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21

  Uber faces legal action over ‘racist’ facial verification system

  Two UK-based unions are taking Uber to court, claiming their members have been unfairly dismissed as a result of misidentification by the company’s facial verification system

• October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21

  Twitch data breach investigations continue

  Investigations are ongoing into a 125GB data breach that hit livestreaming platform Twitch, apparently the work of hacktivists

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  US lawmakers propose ransomware reporting rules

  Former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren lends her support to a bill that would require corporate ransomware victims to disclose more information about their attacks to the authorities

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  Gaming service Twitch hacked, data leaked

  Users of livestreaming platform Twitch may be at risk after a 125GB torrent of data was leaked

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  Apache web server users urged to patch immediately

  New zero-day in Apache HTTP Server is already being actively exploited and must be addressed immediately

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  Auto-enrolment begins for Google multi-factor authentication

  Google has started to turn on multi-factor authentication on consumer accounts by default, and aims to auto-enrol 150 million users by the end of 2021

• October 04, 2021 04 Oct'21

  How GYG Singapore moved to paperless contracts

  The Singapore franchisee of Mexican cuisine specialist Guzman y Gomez has turned to electronic agreements and digital signatures to ease the administrative burden on its HR team

• October 01, 2021 01 Oct'21

  Met Police purchase new retrospective facial-recognition system

  Retrospective facial-recognition software purchased for £3m by the Met Police will be deployed in coming months amid continuing controversy around the use of biometric technologies by law enforcement bodies

• October 01, 2021 01 Oct'21

  Amnesty International exploited in malware campaign

  According to new intelligence from Cisco Talos, Amnesty International’s branding and profile is being used as part of a new malware campaign that exploits people’s fears of the notorious Pegasus spyware app

• October 01, 2021 01 Oct'21

  JVCKenwood hit by Conti ransomware attack

  Nearly 2TB of data was stolen from Japanese electronics firm in a Conti ransomware hit

• September 30, 2021 30 Sep'21

  UK consumers would collectively pay over £1bn a year for control of their data

  UK consumers are willing to pay a small fee per month to have control of the data they share with Google and Facebook

• September 28, 2021 28 Sep'21

  Digital regulators need discrete but cooperative remits

  The UK’s information commissioner has told MPs that digital economy regulators need discrete remits backed up by strong information sharing powers to both provide clear focus as well as allow for greater cooperation between their disparate but ...

• September 27, 2021 27 Sep'21

  Women and BAME people bear brunt of cyber crime impact

  Cyber crime has a disproportionate impact on women and BAME people, according to a new report

• September 27, 2021 27 Sep'21

  Dubai International Finance Centre’s data protection law to be boosted by new federal regulation

  New UAE data protection regulation on the horizon a year after a Dubai-specific law came into force

• September 24, 2021 24 Sep'21

  How Australia punches above its weight in cyber security

  Australia is playing to its strengths in niche areas such as governance and deep tech to punch above its weight in the cyber security industry

• September 23, 2021 23 Sep'21

  MoD in second leak of Afghan citizens’ data

  A second breach of data relating to Afghan citizens at risk of Taliban reprisals has been reported by the Ministry of Defence

• September 22, 2021 22 Sep'21

  AI cannot be regulated by technical measures alone

  The regulation of artificial intelligence must address the power of tech companies, as technical measures alone will not be enough to prevent the harms caused by AI-driven technologies, says report

• September 22, 2021 22 Sep'21

  UK government turns to Tim Berners-Lee startup for digital identity plan

  As part of its new digital identity project, the Government Digital Service is using the Solid platform created by web inventor Berners-Lee, which helps users to manage their personal data better

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  Investigation launched after MoD email blunder

  Exposure of PII on Afghan interpreters who worked with the UK may put hundreds at risk of Taliban reprisals

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  Spanish police bust Mafia-linked phishing gang

  A joint operation between European authorities has dismantled a cyber criminal gang with links to the Italian Mafia