News

Privacy and data protection

May 13, 2020 13 May'20
European comms bodies set up standards group, call for vigilance on contact-tracing apps

New ETSI group will develop standardisation framework for secure smartphone-based proximity tracing systems, helping to break Covid-19 transmission chains
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Draft Covid-19 contact tracing legislation proposes formal oversight

Human Rights Committee chair Harriet Harman has outlined a proposed bill to guarantee the security and privacy of data generated by the UK’s Covid-19 contact tracing app
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
MPs take part in first live test of remote voting during Covid-19 debate

MPs will use phones and computers to vote from their homes in a House of Commons debate today in the biggest change in parliamentary procedure for 150 years
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Details released of second UK contact-tracing app development

Contractual documents show Zuhlke Engineering receiving an official start date of 6 May to supply a managed delivery team to support and run proximity mobile application and services for the UK

May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Pay the ransom and double your recovery costs, report warns

Paying cyber criminals a ransom to recover your data adds over half a million dollars to the cost of organisational recovery, says Sophos
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Police failing to consult public on new technologies

A freedom of information campaign has revealed that UK police are largely failing to consult the public on their use of new technologies, with the potential to undermine the principle of policing by consent
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
APAC firms still coming to grips with data protection

More governments in Asia are implementing data protection regimes, but challenges such as checkbox compliance and the lack of effective staff training remain
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
How Australian firms can plug data protection gaps

Australian organisations can address data protection challenges by creating roles such as a data governance lead, classifying data and improving employee awareness of cyber hygiene
May 12, 2020 12 May'20
Banks failing to protect customers from coronavirus fraud

Just 13 of the 64 banks accredited for the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme have implemented Dmarc protection
May 11, 2020 11 May'20
Pitney Bowes hit by Maze in second ransomware attack in a year

Shipping services firm falls victim to Maze ransomware just seven months after a previous major attack

May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Zoom buys secure messaging service Keybase

Unified comms platform Zoom says the acquisition of Keybase will finally let it bring end-to-end encryption to the table
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Privacy International to Palantir: We are watching you

Privacy International expresses a qualified welcome for Palantir’s responses to questions about its data integration role in the NHS Covid-19 data store, but continues to raise concerns
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
SilverTerrier cyber crime group targets Covid-19 key workers

Organisations on the front line in the fight against coronavirus are under attack from Nigeria’s SilverTerrier criminal gang
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Contact-tracing app fails to protect privacy and human rights

Reassurances over the security and human rights implications of NHSX’s approach to developing its Covid-19 contact-tracing app are insufficient, says the cross-bench Human Rights Committee
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Facebook announces oversight board members

New board will rule on freedom of expression issues and make policy recommendations to social media giant.
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
FBI search warrants reveal Trump aide’s messages to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

FBI search warrants reveal Trump campaigner Roger Stone sent private messages to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after the site published thousands of documents that damaged Hillary Clinton’s election campaign
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
Next round of Zoom updates targets consumer security

Casual consumer users of Zoom will get additional protections in an update to be released over the long weekend
May 07, 2020 07 May'20
NCSC Covid-19 scam reporting service sees more than 160,000 reports

The general public has taken to the NCSC’s scam reporting service like ducks to water, with thousands of suspicious emails reported to it in just two weeks
May 06, 2020 06 May'20
Criminal justice system is failing cyber crime victims

Victims of cyber crime face barriers to reporting, receiving support and achieving justice, says a Home Office-backed study
May 06, 2020 06 May'20
Re-purposing data and questionable effectiveness could undermine trust in NHS contact-tracing app

Experts call for greater clarity over how contact-tracing data will be used, while discussing the limitations of the coronavirus app
May 06, 2020 06 May'20
HMRC tackles almost 300 coronavirus phishing websites

Of 292 websites removed since lockdown began on 23 March, 237 were proactively identified by HMRC and 55 were flagged by the public
May 06, 2020 06 May'20
End-users failing to protect themselves online

Remote workers and stuck-at-home consumers are taking silly risks with their security during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report
May 05, 2020 05 May'20
Coronavirus: NCSC issues urgent alert for healthcare sector

UK National Cyber Security Centre and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency say they are seeing large-scale campaigns targeting healthcare bodies and medical research organisations
May 05, 2020 05 May'20
GoDaddy owns up to October 2019 data breach

Web hosting services provider has suffered yet another security incident, confirming that an unauthorised individual accessed hosting accounts
May 05, 2020 05 May'20
Building security and privacy into contact-tracing apps

Governance and data decentralisation are among measures that organisations can take to allay security and privacy concerns over contact-tracing apps, according to RSA
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
Xen Orchestra latest victim of Salt cryptojackers

More victims of cyber criminals exploiting two critical Salt vulnerabilities are coming forward
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
NHSX contact-tracing app needs legislative oversight

Legal experts have told Parliament’s Human Rights Committee that legislation is desirable to ensure public trust in the data security of the Covid-19 coronavirus contact-tracing app
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
Assange extradition hearing to take place in September following coronavirus lockdown

An extradition hearing against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been delayed by four months, after defence and prosecution lawyers said the Covid-19 lockdown would make it impractical to hold a fair hearing in May
May 04, 2020 04 May'20
IT Priorities 2020: Compliance and risk are top security concerns

When it comes to security, buyers are prioritising solutions and services that address compliance issues, risk management and data protection, according to the Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities 2020 study
April 30, 2020 30 Apr'20
Cyber security skills courses go online during pandemic

The government is turning to online learning to find the next generation of cyber security talent
April 30, 2020 30 Apr'20
Critical SaltStack vulnerability affects thousands of datacentres

Critical vulnerabilities in the Salt remote task and configuration framework enable hackers to take control of cloud servers and must be patched right away
April 30, 2020 30 Apr'20
Mobile banking customers at risk from new EventBot trojan

Customers of Barclays, HSBC, Santander and many other banks should be alert to a dangerous new trojan
April 29, 2020 29 Apr'20
Coronavirus: GCHQ gets access to NHS data to beef up security

Health secretary gave GCHQ emergency powers to obtain information relating to the security of its networks and IT systems at the beginning of April, it has emerged
April 29, 2020 29 Apr'20
Coronavirus: Call for extension to European payment security standard deadline

Payment processors across Europe want more time to meet the SCA payment security standard
April 28, 2020 28 Apr'20
NHSX on track for May launch of Covid-19 contact-tracing app but challenges remain

Leading UK scientific experts assure MPs that much-anticipated application will be ready for launch in May but concede that challenges exist on achieving meaningful uptake
April 28, 2020 28 Apr'20
Under the spotlight, video apps rush to strengthen security

Most popular videoconferencing applications now meet Mozilla’s minimum security standards, with fierce competition and public pressure driving rapid improvement
April 28, 2020 28 Apr'20
Black Rose Lucy ransomware now posing as FBI porn warning

A new strain of Russian-developed ransomware impersonates US federal law enforcement to force payment, says Check Point
April 27, 2020 27 Apr'20
Julian Assange extradition hearing postponed amid coronavirus lockdown

Julian Assange’s lawyers say they have been unable to communicate or share legal documents with the WikiLeaks founder to enable them to prepare a defence in time for a planned extradition hearing in May
April 27, 2020 27 Apr'20
Microsoft patches .gif file vulnerability in Teams

Vulnerability could have enabled cyber criminals to use a malicious .gif file to scrape user data and take over Teams accounts
April 27, 2020 27 Apr'20
UK tech companies launch online safety body

Online Safety Tech Industry Association unites 14 technology companies to drive conversation and policy around online safeguarding
April 27, 2020 27 Apr'20
How Vonage is riding the e-commerce wave in Asia

The surge in online sales across Asia has boosted demand for cloud-based communications services as more e-commerce players look to integrate text messaging, voice and video into customer engagement platforms
April 27, 2020 27 Apr'20
Australia’s CovidSafe app debuts, source codes to follow

Australia’s contact tracing app has been downloaded more than 1.1 million times, even as privacy concerns linger on
April 24, 2020 24 Apr'20
Coronavirus: Dutch Covid-19 tracking app stirs national debate

Privacy concerns raised over mobile app to help track and control the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands
April 24, 2020 24 Apr'20
The Security Interviews: Can AV go from dodgy scareware to cyber hero?

Alun Baker, CEO of Clario, is on a mission to rehabilitate the image of consumer security products and take the fear out of selling antivirus. We find out how things are changing
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
Ransomware-stricken Travelex up for sale

Travelex’s parent Finablr is washing its hands of the ransomware-stricken forex provider as it struggles with the twin shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and a developing fraud scandal
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
Public authorities set to receive expanded surveillance powers

UK government wants to extend the number of public authorities able to obtain communications data using mass surveillance
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
iOS zero-day leaves iPhone users dangerously exposed

Researchers identify dangerous vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS operating system that allow remote code execution on target devices
April 23, 2020 23 Apr'20
Zoom to roll out fresh cyber security updates

New features include support for advanced AES 256-bit encryption
April 22, 2020 22 Apr'20
NCSC overwhelmed by response to coronavirus campaign

The UK’s NCSC has taken down more than 80 malicious web campaigns and received 5,000 reports of suspicious emails within 24 hours of launching reporting service
April 22, 2020 22 Apr'20
Coronavirus: Banking and mobile sectors collaborate to stop text scams

Initiative aims to protect 50 genuine brands and government organisations from being impersonated by cyber criminals