News

Privacy and data protection

• January 13, 2016 13 Jan'16

  Firms can monitor employees’ online chats, EU court rules

  Human rights court says it is not unreasonable for employers to want to verify that staff are completing their professional tasks during working hours

• January 11, 2016 11 Jan'16

  ICO reiterates call for stronger sentences for data theft

  The information commissioner (ICO) reiterates his call for stronger sentences for data theft after a court fined a woman just £1,000 for selling 28,000 customer records

• January 08, 2016 08 Jan'16

  Tech firms critical of UK draft Investigatory Powers Bill

  Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo say they are particularly concerned about six key aspects of the UK's draft Investigatory Powers Bill

• January 06, 2016 06 Jan'16

  UK IoT research hub opens with support from academic world

  A consortium of nine UK universities have come together to work alongside the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on research into the internet of things

• January 06, 2016 06 Jan'16

  Upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 to reduce risk

  Failure to update to the latest version of Internet Explorer by 12 January 2016 could put users at risk, Microsoft warns

• December 31, 2015 31 Dec'15

  Top 10 internet of things stories of 2015

  2015 was the year the internet of things began to move from theory to widespread practice, and the fledgling industry shook off the millstone of connected kitchen appliances

• December 24, 2015 24 Dec'15

  Top 10 IT security stories of 2015

  Computer Weekly looks back at the most significant stories on IT security in the past 12 months

• December 23, 2015 23 Dec'15

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2015

  Computer Weekly takes a look back at the top cyber crime stories of 2015

• December 15, 2015 15 Dec'15

  Bracknell man arrested over VTech toy hack

  Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with the hacking of Hong Kong-based toymaker VTech

• December 11, 2015 11 Dec'15

  Eight startups selected for Cyber London security accelerator programme

  Cyber London has selected startups from the UK, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Brazil and South Africa for its second cyber security accelerator programme

• December 11, 2015 11 Dec'15

  UK firms act quickly to fix payment card data encryption

  Security firm found that 16 global companies had failed to effectively encrypt traffic to the payment portion of their websites and apps

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  Wetherspoon pub chain warns customers of data breach

  Discovery of a data breach at JD Wetherspoons comes hard on the heels of a breach at TalkTalk, underlining the importance of keeping customer data safe

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  Veracode finds most web apps fail Owasp security check list

  The findings of a report on critical vulnerabilities in most web applications is raising concerns over potential security vulnerabilities in millions of websites

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  The US and China agree more steps to fight cyber crime

  The US and China have made progress in expanding co-operation on cyber crime as China claims criminals and not state-backed hackers broke into the US Office of Personnel Management

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  Workday ringfences support in Europe after Safe Harbour ruled unsafe

  US cloud HR and financial services provider reponds to Safe Harbour failure by ringfencing European data

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  Security analytics needs practical approach, says Fico Ciso Vickie Miller

  Analytics must form part of a comprehensive defence-in-depth strategy, according to chief information security officer (Ciso) Vickie Miller at software firm Fico

• November 26, 2015 26 Nov'15

  Use legal protection to soften cyber attack impact, says Kemp Little

  IT outsourcing provides an opportunity for businesses to transfer risk and recover losses from cyber attacks, says law firm Kemp Little

• November 26, 2015 26 Nov'15

  Dridex banking Trojan regains strength to mount attacks on the UK

  Fresh Dridex banking Trojan campaigns target the US, UK and France – despite a recent law enforcement takedown operation – warn security researchers

• November 25, 2015 25 Nov'15

  Data breach hits Hilton Worldwide hotel chain

  Hilton Worldwide says malware found its way onto point of sale (PoS) systems and enabled attackers to steal payment card information

• November 24, 2015 24 Nov'15

  Defence review promises 1.2% of defence budget spend on technology

  The government’s defence review highlights need for technology investment, innovative ideas and cyber security

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Five key strategies for IoT success

  Companies need to be agile because in some IoT systems, it will be a question of the winner taking it all, according to Kent Eriksson, IoT business consultant at PTC

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Coalition of top tech firms opposes weakened encryption

  Weakening security with the aim of advancing security simply does not make sense, a coalition of top tech firms tells US president Barack Obama

• November 18, 2015 18 Nov'15

  Cyber security mindset needs to change, says report

  Government organisations are prime targets for cyber attacks, leading to increased importance on robust information security, according to a report by Intel Security and the Digital Government Security Forum

• November 12, 2015 12 Nov'15

  Three men charged over JP Morgan hacking and fraud

  Exploiting the Heartbleed bug was one of the methods used by three men charged in connection with the theft of more than 100 million customer data records from financial institutions to carry out "pump and dump" fraud

• November 11, 2015 11 Nov'15

  Snoopers’ charter will force ISPs to raise broadband prices

  The Science and Technology Select Committee hears that ISPs may be forced to put up their service charges to cover the cost of retaining communications data, should the Investigatory Powers Bill become law

• November 11, 2015 11 Nov'15

  Germany is finalising legislation to shore up CNI cyber security

  Germany is working to ensure digital sovereignty through IT security legislation and negotiations on IT security regulations and transatlantic trade at a European Union level

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  EU data protection official optimistic on successor to Safe Harbour

  An EU data protection official says he is optimistic that an alternative to the Safe Harbour agreement will be found, but it will take work from both the US and the EU

• November 04, 2015 04 Nov'15

  UAE recognises importance of cyber security, says official

  Like the UK, the UAE federal government has identified the importance of creating an environment in which it is safe to do business online

• November 03, 2015 03 Nov'15

  Theresa May proposes bulk data and internet tracking under the Investigatory Powers Bill

  The home secretary has unveiled the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, which sets out the government's plans to collect data on UK citizens' internet use

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  000Webhost blames PHP exploit for breach of 13.5 million records

  Unencrypted passwords for a free web hosting firm were on sale for five months before customers were notified their records had been leaked, according to a security researcher

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  Theresa May promises strong oversight in surveillance bill

  The proposed Investigatory Powers Bill contains “very strong” oversight and “world-beating” authorisation procedures, according to home secretary Theresa May

• October 30, 2015 30 Oct'15

  Law enforcement cracks down on DroidJack Android snooping malware users

  A joint EU/US operation on the DroidJack malware is the latest example of international collaboration between law enforcement officers directed at cyber crime

• October 29, 2015 29 Oct'15

  M&S data breach forces retailer to temporarily suspend service

  A glitch that allowed online customers to see each others' details forced retailer Mark & Spencer to take its website offline while it resolved the issue

• October 23, 2015 23 Oct'15

  TalkTalk warns customers about personal data breach

  TalkTalk has warned customers their personal data may have been compromised in the second cyber attack on the firm in 2015, with some data left unencrypted

• October 22, 2015 22 Oct'15

  Police and industry to tackle cyber crime together, says TechUK

  A TechUK report calls for collaboration between police and industry to raise standards of reporting, recording and responding to cyber crime

• October 21, 2015 21 Oct'15

  Infosec pros should start preparing for the future, say experts

  Information security professionals need to grow their skills, engage with the business, increase security awareness, set business goals and tailor their messages, says a panel of experts

• October 19, 2015 19 Oct'15

  Dow Jones denies it was target of insider trading hack

  Dow Jones says there is no information to support reports that it was the target of hackers seeking information for insider trading

• October 16, 2015 16 Oct'15

  Yahoo announces password-killing Account Key

  Yahoo Account Key uses push notifications to provide a fast and secure way to access Yahoo accounts from a mobile device

• October 13, 2015 13 Oct'15

  Cyber security innovation is crucial, says security evangelist

  Visibility and automation are key areas of cyber security innovation, but firms should concentrate first on the basics and not overlook the human element of security

• October 12, 2015 12 Oct'15

  NHS Health Apps Library to close

  The NHS Health Apps Library is shutting down after a two-year tenure, shortly after NHS-approved apps were found to leak data

• October 09, 2015 09 Oct'15

  Apple removes more iOS apps over security concerns

  Apple has blocked more apps over security concerns just weeks after ridding the App Store of XcodeGhost malware

• October 08, 2015 08 Oct'15

  Samsung Pay isolated from LoopPay attack

  Hackers who compromised LoopPay’s computer systems had no access to Samsung Pay’s user data or other core information, says Samsung

• October 07, 2015 07 Oct'15

  Singapore and UK researchers investigate privacy in big data era

  Academic organisations in Singapore and the UK collaborate on the privacy questions raised by big data and the cloud

• October 06, 2015 06 Oct'15

  Researchers find credential-stealing webmail server APT attack

  Security researchers have discovered a new and unique advanced persistent threat (APT) technique that involves a malicious module loaded onto a webmail server

• October 05, 2015 05 Oct'15

  Facebook ruling not only landmark data protection case in Europe, say experts

  A landmark ruling against Slovakia-based website Weltimmo could impact the Max Schrems case against Facebook and new European data protection rules currently being finalised

• October 02, 2015 02 Oct'15

  David Jones online customers hit by data breach

  Hackers have accessed the personal details of an unknown number of David Jones online customers, but the retailer says payment details and passwords are not affected

• September 30, 2015 30 Sep'15

  Medical devices must be secure by design, say industry experts

  The information security industry is calling for medical device manufacturers to design and build cyber security into all internet-enabled devices after thousands are found to be hackable

• September 29, 2015 29 Sep'15

  120-day patching gap puts many firms at risk of cyber attack, study shows

  The probability of a vulnerability being exploited hits 90% between 40-60 days after discovery, but many firms are taking up to 60 days beyond that to patch, while others are failing to patch at all, a study shows

• September 22, 2015 22 Sep'15

  Is Microsoft Office 2016 reliable enough for business?

  A day after a major Skype outage, Microsoft unveils Office 2016, which, ironically, offers tight integration with Skype

• September 21, 2015 21 Sep'15

  Department for Culture, Media and Sport takes over responsibility for data protection policy

  Government transfers responsibility for data protection policy and ICO oversight from Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)