News

Privacy and data protection

• 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

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  BlackMatter gang ramps up attacks on multiple victims

  A wave of new BlackMatter ransomware attacks is hitting organisations around the world, even as the US authorities mull new sanctions on ransom payment infrastructure

• September 16, 2021 16 Sep'21

  Dutch education administrators underestimate threat of cyber crime

  Research shows educational establishments in the Netherlands are becoming favoured targets of cyber criminals and administrators are underestimating the risks

• September 16, 2021 16 Sep'21

  Travel-themed phishing lures spiked this summer

  As people begin to take holidays again after more than a year of restrictions and lockdowns, opportunist cyber criminals have taken note, according to new data from Palo Alto’s Unit 42

• September 15, 2021 15 Sep'21

  Interview: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on supporting the UK tech sector

  Computer Weekly talked to Sunak at a Treasury event in front of an audience of tech sector leaders, investors and startups, to discuss how the government can support the digital economy

• September 15, 2021 15 Sep'21

  Australia and Singapore have higher incidences of insecure databases

  Five-year longitudinal study by Imperva shows the proportion of databases with at least one known vulnerability in Australia and Singapore are among the world’s highest

• September 14, 2021 14 Sep'21

  Mass health tracker data breach has UK impact

  The leak of a database of 61 million users of health-tracking devices includes records on individuals located in the UK

• September 14, 2021 14 Sep'21

  Apple patches ForcedEntry vulnerability used by spyware firm NSO

  Apple patches ForcedEntry vulnerability that was used to target political activists with spyware

• September 13, 2021 13 Sep'21

  Smishing attacks up sevenfold in six months

  Scam text messages are reaching pandemic proportions, thanks in part to the pandemic

• September 09, 2021 09 Sep'21

  UK GDPR faces changes under planned reforms

  DCMS is launching a major consultation on proposed changes to the UK’s data protection regime, under which several key elements of the GDPR are likely to change

• September 08, 2021 08 Sep'21

  Stolen credit card data worth about £13 on dark web, PayPal worth more

  The average price of a stolen credit card on a dark web marketplace comes in at around $17.40, or £12.60, according to new data – but the real money for cyber criminals is in hacked PayPal accounts

• September 07, 2021 07 Sep'21

  Procuring law enforcement tech needs greater scrutiny

  Tech firms are playing a high-stakes game to drive adoption of artificial intelligence and surveillance technology in law enforcement

• September 07, 2021 07 Sep'21

  OT security in APAC remains work in progress

  Two operational technology security experts shed light on the state of OT security in the region, and what’s being done to address skills, competency and organisational challenges

• September 07, 2021 07 Sep'21

  ICO in bid to end cookie pop-ups

  Outgoing information commissioner Elizabeth Denham will call on her equivalents across the G7 group of countries to collaborate on an overhaul of cookie consent pop-ups

• September 03, 2021 03 Sep'21

  Berlin court reverses ban on use of EncroChat evidence in criminal trials

  Berlin Superior Court allows use of EncroChat evidence in criminal trials but lawyers say the question will ultimately need to be decided by the German Supreme Court

• September 03, 2021 03 Sep'21

  China accused of cyber attacks on Norwegian IT systems

  China-based cyber attackers have been blamed for multiple assaults on IT systems in Norway

• September 02, 2021 02 Sep'21

  WhatsApp fined €225m over GDPR breaches

  Irish data protection watchdog has issued one of the largest GDPR fines to date against Facebook-owned WhatsApp

• September 02, 2021 02 Sep'21

  Twitter tests auto-block feature for accounts at risk of abuse

  Latest Twitter feature automatically blocks abusive users, and is intended to help victims regain control of their experience on the platform

• September 01, 2021 01 Sep'21

  Experts warn on Office 365 phishing attacks

  Newly observed campaign is particularly dangerous because it appears to neutralise one of the most widely known anti-phishing techniques

• August 31, 2021 31 Aug'21

  GovTech launches vulnerability rewards programme

  Vulnerability rewards programme will offer rewards ranging from $250 to $5,000 to white hat hackers who find vulnerabilities in critical government systems

• August 27, 2021 27 Aug'21

  Are proposed data protection changes a threat to UK citizens’ privacy?

  Though changes are as-yet undefined pending an upcoming consultation, concerns are already being expressed over the government’s plan to liberalise data protection laws in the service of innovation and growth

• August 26, 2021 26 Aug'21

  Tech giants commit to Biden's cyber security action plan

  Some of the world’s most prominent tech giants have made a series of commitments to enhance the US’ national cyber security posture following a high-profile meeting with president Biden

• August 26, 2021 26 Aug'21

  Government unveils post-Brexit data flow proposals

  The government will pursue data partnerships with countries including Australia, South Korea and the US as part of a post-Brexit data regime that may also see substantial changes to the UK’s data protection law

• August 26, 2021 26 Aug'21

  NZ privacy lead John Edwards named new information commissioner

  DCMS has named John Edwards, currently New Zealand privacy commissioner, to succeed Elizabeth Denham as UK information commissioner

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  Over a million opt out of NHS data-sharing

  Failure to communicate benefits of data-sharing proposals and privacy concerns are prompting large numbers of people to opt out of a proposed NHS Digital scheme

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  Campaign groups claim police have bypassed Parliament with plans for live facial-recognition tech

  Civil society groups call for Parliament to scrutinise the use of live facial-recognition cameras

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  More data breaches in Australia arising from ransomware

  The number of data breaches in Australia arising out of ransomware attacks grew by 24% during the first half of 2021, according to OAIC’s latest data breach report

• August 23, 2021 23 Aug'21

  Flexxon and Lenovo tie up on AI-infused SSDs

  Singapore-based Flexxon teams up with Lenovo to make its solid-state drive that uses artificial intelligence to fend off cyber threats available on ThinkPad-based laptops

• August 19, 2021 19 Aug'21

  Pub apps harvesting swathes of customer data unnecessarily

  Some pub and restaurant chain apps demand data such as gender and marital status, raising eyebrows among privacy campaigners

• August 18, 2021 18 Aug'21

  Global VPN downloads soar in first half of 2021

  Song remains the same with VPNs as repressive regimes’ continued regulatory demands and remote working see virtual private network usage rocket over the first six months of the year

• August 17, 2021 17 Aug'21

  Educational publisher Pearson fined for data breach cover-up

  Securities and Exchange Commission says publisher misled its investors over the extent of a 2018 data breach