News

Privacy and data protection

May 19, 2021 19 May'21
Barclays first bank to publish online scam refund details

All banks must be transparent about the proportion of victims of authorised push payment fraud they refund, says consumer rights organisation Which?
May 19, 2021 19 May'21
Flexxon bakes AI into SSDs to fight unknown threats

Singapore-based Flexxon has developed a solid-state drive that uses artificial intelligence to fend off malware and other unknown threats
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Microsoft EU Data Boundary dubbed ‘smoke and mirrors’

Data protection experts claim Microsoft’s decision to create an EU Data Boundary is a tacit admission that it routinely transfers and processes the personal data of European citizens outside the bloc
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Government response to National Data Strategy consultation depicts data as ‘asset, not threat’

Government responds to consultation with a promise of delivery, putting an emphasis on data as an asset, not a threat, and finding respondents keen on levelling up

May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Irish High Court dismisses legal bid by Facebook over EU-US data transfers

Latest twist in long-running legal battle sees Facebook lose legal bid to prevent the Irish Data Protection Commissioner suspending its transfer of data about European citizens to the US
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Australian budget lends support to digital economy

Australia’s A$1.2bn Digital Economy Strategy ticks most of the right boxes, but some industry experts say areas such as broadband infrastructure and artificial intelligence are still underfunded
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
Conti ransomware syndicate behind attack on Irish health service

More details continue to emerge of the significant ransomware attack on Ireland’s HSE
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
Government seeks input on supply chain security

Amid concerns that too few companies are addressing vulnerabilities in their supply chain, DCMS is opening a consultation on new measures to enhance security
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Dutch police used deep learning model to predict threats to life

Dutch police developed a deep learning model in their EncroChat investigation to predict which messages contain serious threats to life
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Okta and Auth0 to expand APAC coverage

Okta’s acquisition of rival Auth0 will enable both companies to expand their footprint in the Asia-Pacific region as demand for identity management services soars amid the pandemic

May 13, 2021 13 May'21
NHSX data strategy due in ‘a few weeks’

NHSX director of policy and strategy Simon Madden says the long-awaited strategy is expected to “trigger huge debates” on issues such as access, choice and transparency, and will be published in draft form shortly to allow for consultation
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Publishing exploit code does more harm than good, says report

Disclosing exploit code before patches are available gives malicious actors a ‘massive’ head-start, says Kenna Security
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Refuge launches tech safety site for domestic abuse victims

Created with the help of survivors, Refuge’s resource site offers guidance on protecting yourself from tech-enabled domestic abuse
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Verizon DBIR underscores year of unprecedented cyber challenge

Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report draws predictable conclusions as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
UK government publishes Online Safety Bill draft

Bill builds on previous commitments by the government, which has added new measures to uphold democracy and freedom of speech while making tech giants more accountable
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
Inside DarkSide: Researchers share intel on break-out cyber gang

Security researchers swap information on the newly famous DarkSide ransomware gang, the group that doesn’t appear to understand what ‘being a criminal’ actually means
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
UK to fund national cyber teams in Global South

Government will commit millions of pounds to supporting vulnerable countries in establishing cyber capacity
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
The Security Interviews: Why helpful bots could hurt vaccine roll-outs

Earlier this year, spikes in traffic to websites containing information about Covid-19 vaccines were attributed by Imperva to automated bots scraping data. Why is that a problem?
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
UK Plc invited to sign up for Early Warning of cyber incidents

The launch of the Early Warning incident notification service is among the enhancements being made by the NCSC to its service packages
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack has grave consequences

The ramifications of a major ransomware attack against a US fuel pipeline operator could spread far and wide
May 10, 2021 10 May'21
NCSC Active Cyber Defence blocks surge of pandemic scams

The NCSC responded to a surge in online scams last year as it moved to protect both the general public and critical national services during the pandemic
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
NCSC publishes smart city security guidelines

Guidance for local authorities, IT and cyber professionals aims to ensure the security of connected, smart city projects
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
Cyber accreditation to improve legal standing of security pros

Institute of Cyber Digital Investigations Professionals will help incident responders and cyber investigators get the professional recognition they deserve
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
Ransomware, supply chain attacks show no sign of abating

Security experts at Black Hat Asia 2021 discuss the state of ransomware and supply chain attacks, two of the most common attack vectors that offer high returns for threat actors
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Government urged to add scam protections to Online Safety Bill

Group of organisations calls for the government to use the Online Safety Bill to protect people from cyber scams
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Scammers accidentally reveal fake Amazon review data

More than 13 million records relating to an organised fake review scam have been found on an unsecured ElasticSearch database, implicating hundreds of thousands of people in unethical behaviour
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Google to introduce mandatory MFA for users

In future, holders of Google accounts will have no option but to use multifactor authentication if they want to use the firm’s services
May 04, 2021 04 May'21
Half of organisations breached via a third party in 12 months

New report highlights the risks of outsourcing key business processes without paying due care and attention to your service provider’s security
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
EncroChat: Top lawyer warned CPS of risk that phone hacking warrants could be unlawful

Lord David Anderson QC warned prosecutors that there were formidable arguments against the lawfulness of a police operation to infiltrate the encrypted phone network, EncroChat
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
MPs accuse government of unduly interfering in information commissioner appointment

Cross-party group of MPs says government is influencing the appointment of a new information commissioner by explicitly seeking a candidate who will support its policy agenda, rather than regulate independently
April 29, 2021 29 Apr'21
G7 countries to cooperate on digital regulation

Digital and technology ministers outline their agenda for how technology can be used to facilitate the post-Covid recovery, signalling closer collaboration in key areas of the digital economy
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Covid-19 security challenges leave bank customers at risk

Challenges arising from the pandemic have left gaping holes in banking security, putting consumers at risk of fraud
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Recruiters can’t afford to hold out for cyber ‘unicorns’

The perfect security candidate is hard to find, so hiring policy needs to be more pragmatic
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Office 365 compromise likely led to Merseyrail ransomware attack

Compromise of Merseyrail employee data seems to have begun after a key email account was hacked
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
NHS App to serve as vaccine passport for foreign holidays

Existing NHS App will have vaccine passport functionality added to it, transport secretary confirms
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Total cost of ransomware attack heading towards $2m

Sophos’ latest study finds that ransomware attacks are proving increasingly disruptive to their victims’ finances
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Leaky Azure storage account puts software developer IP at risk

Source code for multiple products was left exposed in an unsecured Microsoft Azure cloud storage account, say researchers, but attributing responsibility for the error has proved difficult
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Apple OS updates patch multiple security holes

The much-heralded release of the privacy-centric iOS 14.5 also brings patches for multiple CVEs, and users of Apple smartphones, tablets and notebooks are best advised to update as soon as possible
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
The Security Interviews: Making sense of outbound email security

Screening inbound emails is an accepted part of an organisation’s security posture, but the topic of securing outbound traffic is less often discussed. Zivver’s Rick Goud is on a mission to change this
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
UnitingCare Queensland hit by cyber attack

Healthcare service provider UnitingCare Queensland was reportedly hit by a ransomware attack that crippled several IT systems
April 23, 2021 23 Apr'21
‘Spy cops’ victims share ongoing data protection concerns

Under Cover Policing Inquiry will consider whether the extensive amount of personal data collected about left-wing activists by the Special Demonstration Squad was justified, as witnesses question whether information about them is still being ...
April 22, 2021 22 Apr'21
GCHQ: Cyber investment a guarantor of UK’s global status

GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming sets out a vision for the UK’s cyber security future
April 22, 2021 22 Apr'21
ToxicEye malware exploits Telegram messaging service

The Telegram instant messaging service is being used by malicious actors to manage a remote access trojan called ToxicEye
April 21, 2021 21 Apr'21
NCSC offers teachers free cyber security training

The NCSC’s latest security training offer builds on a package of measures designed to protect schools from cyber attack
April 21, 2021 21 Apr'21
EU lays out plans to regulate AI development

Proposal aims to encourage the development of ethical artificial intelligence systems that do not infringe the human rights of EU citizens
April 20, 2021 20 Apr'21
Health app myGP adds Covid-19 vaccine passport function

The new feature is described as the UK’s first NHS-assured Covid-19 certification feature
April 20, 2021 20 Apr'21
UK’s proposed IoT cyber security law gathers momentum

New statistics appear to vindicate UK government proposals to force suppliers to be upfront about IoT security
April 20, 2021 20 Apr'21
Codecov supply chain attack has echoes of SolarWinds

Supply chain attack on code auditing service may have compromised the likes of HPE and IBM
April 19, 2021 19 Apr'21
YouGov incentivises sharing of personally identifiable information

YouGov Safe is a new service to help organisations target consumers more precisely, where people can select how much personal data they wish to share
April 18, 2021 18 Apr'21
Government puts Facebook under pressure to stop end-to-end encryption over child abuse risks

Facebook faces growing government pressure to abandon its plans to offer users end-to-end encryption to secure the privacy of their messages as the NSPCC raises concerns about child protection