Application security and coding requirements

MS macro-blocking has forced cyber criminals to innovate

One year after Microsoft started blocking VBA and XL4 macros by default, the cyber criminal ecosystem has all but stopped exploiting macros in their attacks. They’re instead innovating at an unprecedented rate Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What secure coding practices mean to modern cyber security

Joseph Foote of PA Consulting explores how we know the services we use most are protected, what we mean when we say 'secure coding practices', and what happens when secure coding practices are not followed? Continue Reading

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• Joseph Foote

Secure Boot vulnerability causes Patch Tuesday headache for admins

Applying the fix for a security bypass zero-day affecting the Windows Secure Boot feature will be a long process that will drag into 2024, but for good reason, says Microsoft Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Inside BlackBerry’s cyber security playbook

BlackBerry’s president of cyber security discusses the company’s cyber security strategy and what it is doing to deliver an integrated set of capabilities for enterprises Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Cyber Action Plan for Wales launched

The devolved Welsh government has set out four priorities in an action plan designed to foster cyber resilience, talent and innovation across the country Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

TikTok fixes vulnerability that could have exposed user activity data

A potentially dangerous vulnerability in the TikTok video-sharing platform was discovered by Imperva researchers, and has now been fixed Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mystery Apple security update sparks speculation

Apple releases its first Rapid Security Response update for iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, but users are in the dark about what security problems they have fixed Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tenable opens playground for generative AI cyber tools

A set of generative AI cyber tools designed to help security researchers in reverse engineering, debugging and other areas of work have been made available for the community to experiment with Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Prototype cyber tech has revolutionary potential

The so-called CHERI protection model developed at the University of Cambridge is showing great promise for future cyber security technologies Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

3CX incident may be world’s first double supply chain attack

It’s supply chain attacks all the way down as Mandiant publishes information suggesting that the 3CX software supply chain compromise was initiated via a prior software supply chain compromise Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Global finance firms take part in NATO cyber attack simulation

Global financial services organisations take part in NATO annual event which simulates cyber attacks on critical infrastructure Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How organisations can succeed with zero trust

By starting small, taking a long-term view and prioritising the most critical assets in their zero-trust implementations, organisations will be able to reap returns from their investments in the security paradigm Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Tech companies and NGOs urge rewrite of Online Safety Bill to protect encrypted comms

The Online Safety Bill faces amendments in the House of Lords amid concerns that it could weaken the security of end-to-end encrypted communications for UK citizens Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Focus on these three risky behaviours to boost cloud security

Some 80% of cloud security alerts are triggered by just 5% of security rules. Security teams can substantially improve their resilience by zeroing in on a small set of risky behaviours, according to a report Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Securing your software supply chain

Organisations need to have a thorough understanding of software components and build security controls into development lifecycles to shore up the security of their software supply chains Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Thousands at risk from critical RCE bug in legacy MS service

Thousands of organisations worldwide are at risk from three vulnerabilities – one critical – in a legacy Microsoft service that they may not be aware they are running Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

April Patch Tuesday fixes zero-day used to deliver ransomware

A zero-day in the Microsoft Common Log File System that has been abused by the operator of the Nokoyawa ransomware is among 97 vulnerabilities fixed in April’s Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Carter Busse, CIO, Workato

Workato CIO Carter Busse talks up the company’s approach towards automation and its efforts to drive the technology across its business Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

OSC&R supply chain security framework goes live on Github

The OSC&R framework for understanding and evaluating threats to supply chain security has made its debut on Github to allow anybody to contribute to the framework Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

3CX unified comms users hit by supply chain attacks

Ongoing supply chain attacks against customers of UC firm 3CX appear to be linked to North Korean threat actors Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apple security updates fix 33 iPhone vulnerabilities

A larger-than-usual update to Apple’s mobile operating system fixes more than 30 distinct vulnerabilities, including two serious issues that may potentially affect device kernels Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

France latest to ban TikTok on government devices

Following bans in the UK and US, France has moved to enact restrictions on TikTok, and other social media apps, on government devices Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nordics move towards common cyber defence strategy

Nordic countries agree to work together to improve their cyber defences amid increasing threat Continue Reading

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• Gerard O'Dwyer

How Mimecast thinks differently about email security

Mimecast CEO Peter Bauer believes the company’s comprehensive approach towards email security has enabled it to remain relevant to customers for two decades Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Mandiant: Dangerous MS Outlook zero-day widely used against Ukraine

A zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook that was fixed in the March Patch Tuesday update has likely been actively exploited by Russian actors for a year or more, and its use will now spread rapidly Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft patches Outlook zero-day for March Patch Tuesday

A highly dangerous privilege escalation bug in Outlook is among 80 different vulnerabilities patched in Microsoft’s March Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC warns over AI language models but rejects cyber alarmism

The UK's NCSC has issued advice for those using the technology underpinning AI tools such as ChatGPT, but says some of the security doomsday scenarios being proposed right now are not necessarily realistic Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

hackathon

A hackathon, also known as a codefest, is a social coding event that brings computer programmers and other interested people together to improve upon or build a new software program. Continue Reading

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• Kinza Yasar, Technical Writer
• Mekhala Roy
• Nicole Laskowski, Senior News Director

Dutch hospitals underestimate impact of cyber attack

IT failures in acute care organisations in the Netherlands have increased considerably since 2010, affecting patient care and stressing the need to improve IT security in hospitals Continue Reading

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• Kim Loohuis

Advanced digital resiliency can save organisations millions

Businesses that build out their digital resiliency are not only more secure, they also have more opportunities to innovate with IT Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Researchers find new bug ‘class’ in Apple devices

A group of vulnerabilities in Apple products that stem from the ForcedEntry exploit used by spyware firm NSO constitutes a whole new class of bug, say researchers at Trellix Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes three zero-days in February update

February’s Patch Tuesday update contains fixes for three previously unpublicised zero-days in Microsoft Office, Windows Graphics Component and Windows Common Log File System Driver Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

OSC&R framework to stop supply chain attacks in the wild

The backers of a new MITRE ATT&CK style framework called OSC&R hope to help organisations get to grips with threats to their software supply chains Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian organisations underinvesting in cyber security

Over half of Australian organisations failed to invest enough in cyber security over past three years, though awareness is improving in aftermath of high-profile data breaches Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

LockBit gang confirms Ion cyber attack as disruption continues

The LockBit ransomware cartel has taken responsibility for this week’s attack on financial software firm Ion, and is threatening to leak stolen data on Saturday 4 February Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor
• Valéry Rieß-Marchive, Rédacteur en chef

Cisco fixes two bugs that could have led to supply chain attacks on users

Two vulnerabilities uncovered in Cisco hardware could have opened the door to serious supply chain cyber attacks, according to the Trellix researchers who found them Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GitHub warns Desktop, Atom users after code-signing certificates pinched

Threat actors stole encrypted code-signing certificates for GitHub’s Desktop and Atom applications in December 2022, prompting warnings for users Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zero-trust implementations remain work in progress

Just one in 10 large enterprises are expected to have mature and measurable zero-trust programmes in place by 2026, study finds Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Trellix automates patching for 62,000 vulnerable open source projects

Since revealing startling statistics about the prevalence of a 15-year-old Python vulnerability, Trellix says it has helped fix almost 62,000 vulnerable projects in the past four months Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chrome vulnerability could have led to widespread data theft

A dangerous vulnerability in Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers could have put billions of users’ files at risk of being stolen Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Europe’s cyber security strategy must be clear about open source

Europe’s cyber security policy on open source is lagging behind the US, and despite growing government awareness of the issues, that poses a problem Continue Reading

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• Ilkka Turunen

Microsoft fixes EoP zero-day on January Patch Tuesday

On the first Patch Tuesday of 2023, Microsoft fixed an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call, which has been actively exploited in the wild and may be co-opted into ransomware campaigns Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cashless Denmark has no bank robberies in a year for first time

Denmark saw no bank robberies in a single year for the first time ever, but online fraud continues to increase Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

China and India governments among top targets for cyber attackers

Chinese and Indian governments targeted by hacktivists and ransomware groups out to make statement or expose flaws in their respective security postures Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Cyber security professionals share their biggest lessons of 2022

In the run-up to 2023, cyber security professionals are taking the time to reflect on the past few months and share their biggest lessons of 2022 Continue Reading

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• Nicholas Fearn

Top 10 cyber security stories of 2022

The war in Ukraine loomed large over the cyber security news agenda, but 2022 also saw growing awareness of open source security, discussion around cyber insurance, and more besides Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

hotfix

A hotfix is code -- sometimes called a patch -- that fixes a bug in a product. Continue Reading

By

• Ben Lutkevich, Site Editor

Top 10 software development stories of 2022

We look at how software development has adapted to the changing economic climate over the past 12 months Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security Think Tank: 2022 brought plenty of learning opportunities in cyber

At the end of another busy 12 months, Turnkey Consulting’s Andrew Morris sums up some of the most important takeaways for cyber pros Continue Reading

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• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

Lego fixes dangerous API vulnerability in BrickLink service

The Lego Group has remediated two potentially serious API vulnerabilities in its BrickLink digital resale platform, just in time for Christmas Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ethical hackers flex their muscles in 2022

Ethical hackers working through HackerOne programmes found 21% more vulnerabilities in 2022 than in 2021 Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes two zero-days in final Patch Tuesday of 2022

December’s Patch Tuesday is typically a light month for Microsoft, and this year proved no exception, but there are still several critical issues worth addressing, and two zero-days for defenders to pore over Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finnish government launches information security voucher scheme

Finland’s government is offering businesses financial support to help them improve their cyber security Continue Reading

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• Gerard O'Dwyer

More Uber data exposed in possible supply chain attack

A second incident affecting ride-sharing app Uber appears to have originated through a third party in a supply chain attack Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIISec, DCMS to fund vocational cyber courses for A-level students

The Chartered Institute of Information Security and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport plan to fund vocational cyber qualifications for 300 teenagers Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: 2022 changed how we thought about resilience

Increasing cyber resilience is at the heart of the people-processes-technology triangle, and 2022 saw shifts in all three of these aspects, says PA Consulting’s Sharon Shochat Continue Reading

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• Sharon Shochat

Consumers to get new protections against dodgy apps

Government’s new code of practice will impose new privacy and security measures on app store operators and developers Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australia to develop new cyber security strategy

New strategy to be developed by top cyber security experts aims to turn Australia into a global cyber leader, among other goals Continue Reading

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• Stephen Withers

Google, MS, Oracle vulnerabilities make November ’22 a big month for patching

Vulnerabilities affecting the likes of Google, Microsoft and Oracle proved particularly troublesome in November Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Trustpilot gets agile to build trust online

Consumer reviews website Trustpilot has built and scaled its IT security team and is now turning to agile methods and DevSecOps to further enhance its cyber capabilities, as CISO Stu Hirst explains. Continue Reading

Not-for-profit aims to encourage 1,300 girls into cyber careers

CyNam, a not-for-profit cyber security initiative, is collaborating with industry, education providers and government to encourage young women into cyber Continue Reading

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• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Cyber criminals target World Cup Qatar 2022

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the FIFA World Cup opens in Qatar, we examine the cyber security threats from criminals targeting the event. We report from the Gartner Symposium on the latest predictions for enterprise software development. And we talk to the CIO of Kyiv City Council about managing IT in the shadow of war. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Bug Bounty Calculator helps organisations fine-tune their payouts

Newly launched comparison tool will supposedly help operators of vulnerability disclosure or bug bounty programmes to ensure their payments match market rates and expectations, and attract the right sort of attention Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft serves smorgasbord of six zero-days

November’s Patch Tuesday fixes significantly fewer vulnerabilities of late, but includes six actively-exploited zero-days, three of them of critical severity Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Security Interviews: Building trust online

Consumer reviews website Trustpilot has built and scaled its IT security team and is now turning to agile methods and DevSecOps to further enhance its cyber capabilities Continue Reading

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• Mark Samuels

OpenSSL vulnerabilities ‘not as bad as feared’

As previously trailed, OpenSSL patched two buffer overflow vulnerabilities, neither of them as impactful as had been feared Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why Supply Chain Security Attacks Are So Damaging

Commonly in cyber security-related conversations, strategic references to the edge, boundary, endpoint, cloud etc are commonplace as potential areas of vulnerability. However, in several recent ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

Prepare today for potentially high-impact OpenSSL bug

OpenSSL trailed a critical vulnerability patch last week, which will be only the second such flaw ever found in the open source encryption project. Unfortunately, the first was Heartbleed Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apple patches new iPhone zero-day

Apple’s latest patch fixes yet another zero-day, as security issues keep surfacing in its mobile products Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What do the US’s new software security rules mean for UK organisations?

The White House announced recently that all software supplied to the US government and its agencies needs to be secure, so what does this mean for the UK and EU security sectors? Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

Apache vulnerability a risk, but not as widespread as Log4Shell

A newly disclosed Apache Commons Text vulnerability may put many at risk, but does not appear to be as impactful or widespread as Log4Shell Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Virtually all vulnerable open source downloads are avoidable

Some 96% of known vulnerable open source downloads could have been avoided altogether, according to a report Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

API management: Assessing reliability and security

Once an API is published, its developer then has responsibility to ensure it is kept up to date and is secure Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor
• Adrian Bridgwater

Australia becoming hotbed for cyber attacks

Research by Imperva shows an 81% increase in cyber security incidents in Australia between July 2021 and June 2022, including automated attacks that doubled in frequency Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Gartner: Remote work, zero trust, cloud still driving cyber spend

Security leaders are eager to spend on categories including remote and hybrid cyber offerings, zero-trust network access, and cloud Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes lone zero-day on October Patch Tuesday

Microsoft patched a solitary zero-day vulnerability in its latest monthly drop, but fixes for two others disclosed in the past few weeks are nowhere to be seen Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reducing the cyber stack with API security

Budgets are tight, making it difficult to secure spend, but is there an argument for jettisoning fragmented approaches to securing APIs in favour of a dedicated end-to-end approach? Doubling down on API security could help businesses not just reduce risk, but also costs Continue Reading

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• Jason Kent

Contractor left Toyota source code exposed for five years

Source code related to Toyota’s T-Connect service was left exposed on GitHub for over five years by a contractor Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Design security in to reap container benefits

Provided container security basics are built into your development and runtime environment from the start, containerised services and applications can provide rapid – and secure – achievement of business objectives Continue Reading

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• Mairi MacLeod and Farrukh Ahmad

filter (computing)

The term filter in computing can mean a variety of things, depending on the technology or technical discipline in question. Continue Reading

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• Andrew Froehlich, West Gate Networks

Forrester: US set to dominate AI enterprise software market

Artificial intelligence is the fastest growth area in software. This is driving adoption, which will make AI mainstream technology in business software Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Optus breach casts spotlight on cyber resilience

The massive data breach that affected more than 10 million Optus customers has cast the spotlight on API security and other factors that contribute to the cyber resilience of organisations in Australia Continue Reading

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• Stephen Withers

Security Think Tank: Three steps to a solid DevSecOps strategy

Read about how buyers can manage third-party risk when procuring applications, how to secure the software development process, and even how to affect cultural change among developers not used to thinking cyber first Continue Reading

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• Cate Pye and Farrukh Ahmad

How Russian intelligence hacked the encrypted emails of former MI6 boss Richard Dearlove

Hack by Russian-linked ColdRiver group exposed former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove’s contacts and email communications with government, military, intelligence and political officials Continue Reading

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• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University

It’s time for engineering teams to own DevSecOps

It may seem counterintuitive, but maybe organisations should consider delegating responsibility for DevSecOps to engineering teams, not security teams, argues Elastic’s Mandy Andress Continue Reading

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• Mandy Andress, Elastic

Nordic private equity firms pursue cyber security acquisitions

Increasing interest in the security sector from Nordic private equity firms is a reflection of growing threats and increasing enterprise security budgets Continue Reading

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• Gerard O'Dwyer

15-year-old Python bug present in 350,000 open source projects

A Python tarfile vulnerability first disclosed in 2007 still persists to this day, according to analysis from Trellix Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Thousands of customers affected in Revolut data breach

Digital challenger bank has warned its customers to be vigilant after their data was exposed in a cyber attack Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Six new vulnerabilities added to CISA catalogue

CISA adds six new vulnerabilities to its most-wanted list, including one that dates back to 2010 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft patches 64 vulnerabilities on September Patch Tuesday

Microsoft drops fixes for five critical vulnerabilities and one zero-day in its latest monthly update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CISOs should spend on critical apps, cloud, zero-trust, in 2023

Faced with a global recession next year, security buyers should try to direct investment towards technology that protects customer-facing and revenue-generating workloads, say analysts Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Adding trust to AppSec and DevSecOps

When building in trust and assurance into app development through standards, it is critically important not to stifle innovation Continue Reading

By

• Rowland Johnson

Dutch cyber security organisations to join forces

Cyber security organisations in the Netherlands are going to merge into a single central expertise centre and information hub, which all organisations in the country will soon be able to tap into Continue Reading

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• Kim Loohuis

Security Think Tank: Creating a DevSecOps-friendly cyber strategy

When slowing down is not an option, you need to find a security strategy that is DevSecOps friendly, says Airbus Protect’s Olivier Allaire Continue Reading

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• Olivier Allaire, Airbus Protect

August ’22 a bumper month for high-impact vulnerabilities

Bugs in products from Apple, Google, Microsoft and VMware dominated the threat landscape in August, says Recorded Future Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Prince’s Trust teams with threat management specialist in skills push

Prince’s Trust hopes to address shortfall in cyber professionals and improve diversity in the industry Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: The many dimensions of DevSecOps

It is imperative to make our colleagues and customers know that when we talk DevSecOps, we are facing a multiphase challenge that starts at the very beginning of DevOps, and one that never ends Continue Reading

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• Alejandro Bernal

Saudi Arabian organisations choose to outsource to improve cyber security posture

Overwhelmed by rising threats and a growing number of government mandates, many organisations in Saudi Arabia are looking for outside help to take care of cyber security Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Security Think Tank: Good procurement practices pave the way to app security

Application security is as much a question of good procurement practice as it is good development practice, says Petra Wenham of the BCS Continue Reading

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• Petra Wenham

Security Think Tank: Shift left, shift right. What about shift everywhere?

The concepts of shift left and shift right are highly effective in securing the development process, but for those who want to take things that step further there is shift everywhere Continue Reading

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• Paul Holland, Information Security Forum