Data protection regulations and compliance

TikTok’s GDPR compliance probed amid accusations of data misuse

Dutch privacy organisation SOMI claims TikTok falls short in protecting young users, and that it is likely violating GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MPs accuse ICO of failing to do its job on contact-tracing data

Cross-party group of MPs say the ICO has failed to enforce data protection standards or hold the government to account over the unlawful Test and Trace programme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UKAS rejects ISO certification concerns

UK’s certification body says refreshed guidance is in place to cover the possibility of lapsed ISO certifications Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Social media data leak highlights murky world of data scraping

A data brokerage left its database of 235 million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles exposed to anybody who cared to access it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Veeam to add CDP, plus Google cloud as a target

Backup giant set to add continuous data protection for the most critical workloads, plus Google cloud as a target – all on the back of a storming quarter during the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Coronavirus: Thousands of ISO certifications set to lapse

Delays and postponements in the auditing process are putting hard-earned security and data protection certifications at risk of lapsing Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Marriott slapped with class action lawsuit over 2018 breach

Group action brings together millions of victims who stayed at the Starwood hotel chain over a four-year period Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reports Oracle to enter TikTok bidding war

Oracle may be about to make a bid to acquire the US operations of TikTok from its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to the FT Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pure and Cohesity launch FlashRecover for flash-speed restores

Flash market pioneer links up with scale-out backup product maker to provide bundled backup plus super-fast recovery based around Pure FlashBlade storage arrays Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

French data protection authorities to probe TikTok as suitors circle

France’s CNIL has confirmed a new investigation into TikTok’s data protection practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hospitality sector is failing on contact-tracing obligations

Cyber security experts urge the government to do more to help small hospitality businesses improve their contact-tracing data-handling practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Footballers to take legal action over use of performance and tracking data

Planned lawsuit will argue that the use of players’ statistics by third-party companies is incompatible with footballers’ data rights Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Majority of organisations at risk of cloud data exposure

Report casts doubt on the effectiveness of the shared responsibility model of cloud security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A question of trust: University and supplier on the hook for data breach

Data on students at the University of York was stolen in a ransomware attack on a supplier two months ago, and the response of both parties raises serious questions Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Commvault refreshes HyperScale backup appliances with Hedvig

Backup player set to replace Fujitsu/Red Hat-based backup appliances with new hardware and storage software from Hedvig, which it bought late last year Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Post-Privacy Shield, what chance for a Brexit data adequacy deal?

The striking down of Privacy Shield has been hailed as a victory for digital rights and privacy campaign groups, but it will have consequences that go beyond transatlantic data transfers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICO hails transformative year as average fine trebles

Information Commissioner’s Office annual report reflects on a busy period, during which it levied two of the largest fines so far seen under the GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Test and Trace programme unlawful, admits government

The Department of Health and Social Care failed in its legal obligation to complete a mandatory Data Protection Impact Assessment Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Clearview AI faces ICO investigation over facial recognition

Controversial company that scraped data from the public internet to build its facial recognition algorithm faces a joint UK-Australian investigation into its practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian government foreshadows ‘sovereign data’ classification

The Australian government will examine if certain government datasets should be declared sovereign and only be hosted in the country Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Out of date security laws leave UK plc at risk during pandemic

The CyberUp coalition has written to Boris Johnson to urge him to reform the UK’s 30 year-old cyber crime laws Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Veeam bullish on growth in APAC

Veeam’s top executive in Asia-Pacific expects the company’s growth momentum in the region to continue despite the Covid-19 pandemic, and is setting sights on growth areas such as container backups Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

EU judges GDPR an overall success, but changes still needed

Two years after its implementation, an EU report says that the GDPR is achieving what it set out to do, with a few reservations Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Brits will sell their personal data for pennies

Surprising findings from an Okta report on digital identity suggest Brits would be willing to part with valuable personal data for a surprisingly low amount Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Twitter contacts business users over data exposure

Issue relates to how web browsers cached confidential data entered in Twitter’s ads and analytics services, but is unlikely to have resulted in compromise Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK-US data deal puts Brexit data adequacy pact at risk

European Data Protection Board writes to MEPs saying the UK is at risk of failing to strike a post-Brexit data adequacy accord if its data protection agreements with the US don’t strike the right note Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Container security is evolving, so must CISOs

Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Digital transformation held back by lack of skilled people

Veeam survey finds digital transformation a hot topic, but 44% of firms are held back by skills shortages. Meanwhile, the cost of downtime is found to be $67,651 per hour for the most important apps Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

NIS security regulations proving effective, but more work to do

The UK’s NIS cyber security and risk regulations are proving somewhat effective, according to a government report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Singapore’s contact-tracing app tops privacy study

Singapore’s TraceTogether is least intrusive in terms of privacy communications compared with similar apps in the region, study finds Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

GDPR at two: How far we’ve come, how far we still have to go

Marking two years of the General Data Protection Regulation, industry voices weigh in on the state of data protection and privacy, consider what has changed, and what still needs to change Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GDPR wholly inappropriate to govern contact-tracing data

Human Rights Committee Chair Harriet Harman says current data protection law is not up to the job of governing the data collected by the Covid-19 contact-tracing app Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nine million EasyJet customer details lost in data breach

Cyber attack on EasyJet’s systems originated from a highly sophisticated source, says the airline Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Malaysia’s data protection practices still have some way to go

Some Malaysian firms are not using data protection tools to the fullest potential, while others only think about data protection after a breach Continue Reading

By

• Edwin Yapp

Surveillance capitalism in the age of Covid-19

Could the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic further consolidate surveillance capitalist practices and enterprises? Author Shoshana Zuboff warns Computer Weekly it is possible Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Podcast: UK SME planning and compliance for ‘the new normal’

We look at how UK SMEs face a “new normal” following the coronavirus lockdowns and how they can plan for compliance with more remote working and a new data landscape Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Can Lady Gaga and Madonna get people to take security seriously?

What does it take to get people to pay attention to cyber security? A celebrity law firm hack may hold some answers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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 Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

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 Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Will the NHS’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app work?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we get the expert reaction to find out if the NHS contact-tracing app will work. Staying close to clients is crucial through lockdown – we look at the importance of customer experience management. And imagine implementing a digital transformation plan in two weeks – one CIO explains how he did it. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

What are the security priorities for the post-coronavirus world?

The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing massive change across the business world and things may never go back to normal. What does security look like in this new world, and what will buyers be prioritising? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Storage 101: Replication vs backup, and synchronous vs asynchronous

Storage 101: Can replication replace backup? What are the pros and cons of synchronous and asynchronous backup? What’s the best way to mix backup and replication? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Contact tracing: The privacy vs protection debate

The Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated extreme measures not seen in peacetime for over 100 years. Contact-tracing apps are being developed as a tool for managing the pandemic, but are they a step too far? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: How to get cyber accountability on the board agenda

We look at how boards should carry out strategic and operational risk profile assessments and plan for compliance on an ongoing basis to avoid fines and damage to the business Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Four risks to data privacy and governance amid Covid-19

EY privacy experts assess some of the novel risks to data privacy, protection and governance during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Pragasen Morgan and Paul Smith

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top five compliance concerns for UK business in 2020

 Continue Reading

Snapshots 101: Array vs backup software

We run the rule over snapshots in storage arrays and backup software and find a range of capabilities that go from mere support to fully snapshot-centric approaches Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Is digital transformation in the public sector making progress?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we assess the progress of digital transformation across the public sector. IT contractors face a double whammy from backdated tax payments and loans being recalled – we explore the growing scandal. And we assess the benefits of computational storage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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 Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Dark data is contributing to carbon emissions

Almost six million tonnes of carbon dioxide will be pumped into the atmosphere this year as a result of dark data, Veritas research finds Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

A carrot-and-stick approach to fixing cyber security complacency

With a majority of IT decision-makers holding the opinion that their employers are complacent when it comes to data protection, we look at what needs to be fixed, and how to fix it Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Storage 101: Snapshots vs backup

We go over the basics of snapshots. They are a quick and accessible way of protecting data, but they are not a substitute for backup. So how do you combine the two? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: Remote compliance assessments and how they are done

Remote working adds to IT compliance risks, but doesn’t remove the need to assess compliance. How are remote compliance assessments carried out and how can you prepare for them? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

When data protection is not enough

Organisations should take a holistic approach to data protection and cyber security in what the CEO of Acronis deems a “cyber protection” strategy Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Check Point sounds alarm over double extortion ransomware threat

Researchers say double extortion ransomware attacks are likely to increase in frequency, and warn organisations to be on guard Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: ICO temporarily relaxes regulatory approach

The Information Commissioner’s Office sets out a revised approach to its regulatory duties during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government urged to delay digital services tax amid coronavirus outbreak

Delaying liabilities for a year could help technology companies already stretched thin by the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to TechUK Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Multicloud storage 101: Pros, cons, pitfalls and strategies

Not putting all your eggs in one basket can be helpful to an enterprise’s resilience strategy. We look at multicloud storage and the benefits and pitfalls it brings Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

NAS backup: Which suppliers have gone post-NDMP?

NAS backup with NDMP has many drawbacks so some vendors have moved to a data management approach that tracks changes and allows for incremental forever protection Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: Covid-19, compliance risk, remote assessment and training

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about why organisations cannot drop their guard on compliance during the increased risks faced as a result of the coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

What we can learn from Marriott’s new data breach embarrassment

Marriott International has egg on its face once again following a second data breach in as many years, but there are encouraging signs in its response that suggest it is at least trying to learn from its experiences Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top five compliance concerns for UK business in 2020

We look at the top five legal and regulatory compliance concerns for UK businesses in 2020. It’s a list that includes GDPR, the DPA, PECR, PCI-DSS and the CCPA Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Coronavirus: What are the latest free cyber security offers?

We round up the latest free offers on cyber security products and services being made available during the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Almost half of UK businesses suffered a cyber attack in past year

Latest government statistics reveal the scale of the cyber security challenge facing UK plc, but reveals some cause for optimism Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australia inks digital economy pact with Singapore

Australia’s digital economy agreement with Singapore will pave the way for data transfers and other digital trade opportunities Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Coronavirus and privacy – finding the middle ground

Data collection has a role to play in fighting the deadly Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, but governments need to be accountable for how it is used Continue Reading

By

• Eduardo Ustaran

What’s the problem with NAS backup?

NAS backup has always been problematic, but what exactly are the issues with NDMP, and what are backup suppliers doing to make a decades-old storage staple easier to protect? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK Coronavirus Bill relaxes restrictions on mass surveillance powers

Emergency legislation would massively expand state surveillance and police detainment powers Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

UK makes its case for post-Brexit data adequacy decision

Government sets out an explanatory framework as it seeks adequacy decisions from the European Commission to maintain the free flow of personal data between the European Union, the UK and Gibraltar Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

VAT software supplier exposed data of millions

Eight million sales records belonging to UK and EU consumers left exposed due to misconfigured server Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top four compliance considerations for SMEs

We look at the key data compliance regulations that affect smaller companies – such as GDPR, the Data Protection Act, PCI-DSS and PECR – and some key industry-specific frameworks. Continue Reading

Podcast: ‘The human element’ in compliance at RSA 2020

We review RSA 2020 and discuss the human element in compliance, plus network and data management, trust, Covid-19 and its implications for organisations, and GDPR and CCPA Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Biometrics ethics group takes evidence on public-private use of facial recognition

Collaboration between police forces and private entities on facial recognition technology comes under scrutiny by the Home Office’s Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Clearview hack fuels debate over facial recognition

Customers of Clearview AI, a controversial startup that scrapes and sells billions of photos of people from social media to police forces, have found themselves at the centre of a major data breach Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is the EU better equipped than the US to supervise the use of facial recognition?

Clearview AI can be an indispensable tool to reinforce national security, but there are many risks associated with the use of facial recognition technology that the EU might be better equipped to deal with than the US Continue Reading

By

• Mathilde Gérot, Signature Litigation

Thai university to roll out data protection certification

Thailand’s National Institute of Development Administration is offering a certification programme to get organisations ready for the country’s data protection regime Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Labour condemns Google data plans

Shadow digital minister Chi Onwurah challenges the government to stop Google’s plans to move UK user data out of the EU Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google plans to send Brits’ data to US after Brexit

Move puts British user data beyond the reach of the EU’s GDPR, makes it more accessible to UK and US law enforcement agencies, and has prompted anger Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Blasé directors put business data at risk

The higher up within a business you go, the more likely you are to find people intentionally leaking confidential data, says Egress Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Veeam Availability Suite v10 adds NAS backup and cloud tiering

Availability Suite is mostly about consolidating the company’s data management platform idea, but it has added incremental forever NAS backup, cloud tiering and recovery to vSphere Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Police use of facial recognition ‘unjustifiable’, says Scottish Justice Committee

Members of the Scottish Parliament have said police use of live facial recognition technology is “not fit for purpose” Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Veeam pushes subscription licensing in cloud-centric ‘Act II’

Backup specialist wants to “win the cloud” as it pushes towards a cloud-focused vision that includes pay-for-what-you-use and multicloud after its acquisition last month Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Acronis CEO bullish as specialist goes beyond backup

Acronis is set to launch Cyber Protect as it rides a wave of confidence based on increasing revenues and investor funding. Will the backup-plus-cyber protection calculation pay off? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: How to boost staff awareness of compliance

Employee awareness of compliance, of the laws and regulations that affect your business, is vital, in some cases even mandatory. We look at the key ways to achieve it Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Top four compliance considerations for SMEs

We look at the key data compliance regulations that affect smaller companies – such as GDPR, the Data Protection Act, PCI-DSS and PECR – and some key industry-specific frameworks Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Data privacy benefits outweigh spend, says Cisco

Cisco’s 2020 data privacy study shows organisations can generate substantial returns on their data privacy and protection spending Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Disaster recovery failover choices: Synchronous mirrors, P2V and the cloud

We survey the key options in disaster recovery: whether to failover to an on-site location or off-site facility. We also look at the cloud as an option in disaster recovery Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Six disaster recovery pitfalls and how to avoid them

We look at some key pitfalls in disaster recovery, such as failing to plan, not testing the plan, not protecting backups, poor communication and neglecting the human element Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Spread of Kubernetes spurs backup and disaster recovery products

Growth of containerised applications brings with it the need to back up and provide disaster recovery. But what do you need to protect, and who provides the products? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Consent and GDPR: at least get the basics right!

Why do companies find it so hard to get their heads around even the basics of GDPR compliance? I’m not even thinking here of techie stuff like not getting hacked, and not losing a laptop full of ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Betts, Freeform Dynamics

Exposed AWS buckets again implicated in multiple data leaks

A series of data leaks in the past week have once again implicated poorly secured Amazon S3 buckets, which are supposed to be private by default Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GDPR nets more than €100m in fines, with more to come

Fines totalling €114m have already been collected under GDPR, and this figure will spike in 2020 if the UK regulator succeeds in imposing record fines on BA and Marriott Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scottish police roll out controversial data extraction technology

The introduction of new mobile phone data extraction terminals to Police Scotland will go ahead despite concerns that the use of the technology could be unlawful Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Thailand gets ready for data protection law

Thailand’s personal data protection law comes into effect in May 2020, subjecting organisations to new rules that safeguard the personal data of individuals Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Threat landscape grew in complexity in 2019, no respite in sight

Check Point’s annual state of security report shares some 2019 trends and looks ahead to 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

$5bn buy-out set to make backup giant Veeam a US company

Veeam’s founders are out as investment fund gets its hands on a pioneer of virtual machine backup. Now it will be a US company and eligible to target US government customers Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

Don’t become the next Travelex: Get ready for ransomware

With Travelex’s IT still in disarray and banks and travellers left without access to funds more than a week after it was hit by a ransomware attack, we ask what others can learn from the foreign exchange services company’s response to the incident Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DRaaS decisions: Key choices in disaster recovery as a service

We examine the key decisions when considering DRaaS. Whether to go full self-service, assisted or managed will depend on what you need to protect and your in-house resources Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard