Endpoint security

Raspberry Pi Foundation ditches default username policy

Raspberry Pi owners will no longer be able to use the default ‘pi’ username, as the Raspberry Pi Foundation clamps down on insecure practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apple criticised over unpatched CVEs in Catalina, Big Sur

Apple patched two zero-days in macOS Monterey last week, but did not address the same issue in Catalina or Big Sur, raising questions Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scoop: Zero Trust Network Access Becomes Your Flexible Friend!

In my last blog, I highlighted the ongoing debate within IT security that is zero trust or, to use the full acronym, ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) and that – in theory, at least – it is kind of ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

Does Anyone Trust Zero Trust?

Has there been a more over-used term within IT security over the past few years than “zero trust”? Answers in the virtual black box at the back of the virtual room (in the virtual universe). I ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

Triple-threat Borat malware no joke for victims

Unlike its namesake, the newly discovered Borat malware won’t raise a smile for IT security pros Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How remote browser isolation can mitigate cyber threats

Remote browser isolation can help to mitigate browser-based attacks by separating a user’s browsing activity from the device Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Apple drops emergency patches for two zero-days

Apple has fixed two zero-day vulnerabilities that appear to have been actively exploited in the wild Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bank fraud prevention scheme blocked £60m in fraud last year

Scheme to catch fraudsters, including online scammers, before they commit their crimes has reported a significant increase in crimes prevented Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Australia to spend A$9.9bn on intelligence and cyber capabilities

The Morrison government is investing in a landmark package of measures to shore up the intelligence and cyber security capabilities of the Australian Signals Directorate Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Singapore rolls out cyber security certification scheme

Two new cyber security marks are expected to provide an edge for Singapore businesses with good cyber security practices Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

European Commission proposes new cyber security regulations

New cyber and information security regulations have been proposed by the European Commission to create a minimum set of standards in both areas Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

How Lapsus$ exploited the failings of multifactor authentication

Attacks on Nvidia and Okta highlight weak MFA and the risk of employees being bribed or falling victim to social engineering Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How India organisations can mitigate cyber threats

Organisations in India will need to invest more in cloud security, gain more visibility into their systems and improve security awareness among employees to fend off cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Pratima Harigunani

Biden issues warning about Russian cyber attacks

President Biden has said that US companies running critical infrastructure should immediately harden their defences in anticipation of potential cyber attacks from Russia Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Details of Conti ransomware affiliate released

Information about a new Conti affiliate has been released by eSentire and BreakPoint Lab after a joint investigation into the group’s indicators of compromise Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Kaspersky CEO: Ukraine war must end through diplomacy

Eugene Kaspersky speaks out on the war in Ukraine, and rebuffs Germany’s BSI, branding its warnings over his company’s trustworthiness as insulting Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Value of contactless transactions doubles in two years

Almost £166bn was spent in the UK last year using contactless technology, compared with £80.5bn in 2019 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How the tech sector is supporting Ukraine

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the global tech sector response to the invasion of Ukraine, and how hackers are responding to calls for an IT army to target Russia. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at cloud-based ERP and other business applications. And IBM’s UK chief tells us how Big Blue is reinventing itself. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Government to force tech firms to stop fraudsters using their platforms for scams

Changes to legislation will make social media and search engine firms responsible for preventing fraudsters using their platforms to commit crimes Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Microsoft serves up three zero-days on March Patch Tuesday

Three zero-days pop up in Microsoft’s March update, along with a number of other noteworthy concerns for defenders Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How APAC organisations can mitigate edge security threats

The move to the edge expands an organisation’s attack surface. Here are some measures that organisations can take to minimise their edge security risks Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Universities need better protection from email-based cyber attacks

The need to educate university staff and students on avoiding email-based cyber attacks is more acute than ever, says Proofpoint’s Adenike Cosgrove Continue Reading

By

• Adenike Cosgrove

Cyber companies step up support for Ukraine

Security companies Bitdefender and Vectra AI are both to offer products and services in support of Ukraine Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SunSeed malware hits those involved in Ukraine refugee relief

European governments involved in managing the logistics of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Ukraine have been targeted by a suspected state-backed actor Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BBC blasted with millions of malicious emails

Responding to an FoI request, the BBC has revealed it receives more than 300,000 malicious email attacks every day Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ESET details new IsaacWiper malware used on Ukraine

Having been among the first to report on the HermeticWiper malware used against Ukraine last week, ESET has now identified another destructive malware called IsaacWiper Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cloudflare: Our network is our product

Cloudflare’s chief product officer explains why its network is its product and how it protects organisations against cyber threats Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

The UK’s cyber security sector is thriving, but our work has only just begun

The government’s Annual Cyber Sector Report painted a positive picture of the UK security industry. CIISec’s Amanda Finch thinks we can go further in developing cyber talent and opening up the sector Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Finch, Institute of Information Security Professionals

KnowBe4 cyber drama tackles Colonial Pipeline in fourth season

KnowBe4’s ongoing cyber security training drama, The Inside Man, reaches its fourth season with a plot drawing inspiration from one of the most impactful cyber attacks of 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

New cyber guidelines to safeguard construction sector

NCSC launches sector-specific security guidance for organisations in the construction industry, with input from the Chartered Institute of Building Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia behind dangerous Cyclops Blink malware

Joint NCSC CISA advisory attributes a dangerous malware, dubbed Cyclops Blink, to Russia’s Sandworm APT, likely a GRU unit, with WatchGuard users at particular risk Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IBM opens cyber security hub in India

Big Blue’s new cyber security hub, comprising a cyber range, software development facilities and a security operations centre, will serve enterprises across the Asia-Pacific region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Think nation-state cyber attacks won’t hit you? Think again…

In this week’s Computer Weekly, with Russian state cyber attacks in the news, we find out why security professionals in every organisation need to remain alert. Our buyer’s guide looks at the tools and programmes helping improve IT training. And we look at how the traditional sport of golf is undergoing a digital transformation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Zoom gains NCSC Cyber Essentials Plus and NHS security badges

Video platform Zoom has added a number of UK-specific cyber certifications to help it demonstrate its platform is safeguarded against common threats Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Storage and 5G: Big impacts likely as wide-area topologies evolve

Enterprise 5G will boost the need for storage generally. It will also push capacity needs closer to the edge and create new locations for processing and storage Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Lawyers say ‘unprecedented’ secrecy deprived EncroChat defendants of fair trials

Lawyers from seven countries say it is impossible for their clients to challenge the accuracy, authenticity, reliability and legality of the evidence against them Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Red Cross cyber attack the work of nation-state actors

The International Committee of the Red Cross now believes the January 2022 attack on its systems to have been the work of an undisclosed nation state Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

2021 another record year for UK cyber investment

Total revenue generated by the UK’s cyber sector was up 14% last year, and UK-registered security firms raised over £1bn in investment Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Retrospect Backup refines anomaly detection in ransomware battle

StorCentric backup software brand allows customer fine-tuning of anomaly detection in struggle against ransomware, and adds immutable copies via object locking in Azure Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Lack of knowledge disastrous for effective security strategy within Dutch companies

Most Dutch companies still haven’t realised that security is an integral part of their IT and company strategy Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Microsoft to start blocking macros to thwart malware

Microsoft is making changes to web macro permissions across multiple Office apps to help improve user security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Security Interviews: Building the UK’s future cyber ecosystem

As the government lays out the next iteration of its Cyber Security Strategy, we speak to Plexal and Lorca’s Saj Huq about his work building a cyber ecosystem to support the UK’s future ambitions Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Accounts Manager

The Security Accounts Manager (SAM) is a database file in the Microsoft Windows operating system that contains usernames and passwords. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna

Check Point looks to plug ASEAN’s cyber security gap

Check Point is shoring up its sales force and partner ecosystem to address the cyber security needs of small and mid-sized businesses in a region that is highly targeted by threat actors Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

BlackCat crew supposedly behind OilTanking ransomware heist

Preliminary reports from Germany’s national cyber authority indicate the recent OilTanking ransomware attack may have been the work of the BlackCat group Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zero-trust to soar in 2022, but dogged by implementation challenges

IT leaders are keen to invest in zero-trust, but face issues around a lack of expertise, and selling the concept into the C-suite Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What neurodivergent people really think of working in cyber security

Many firms are filling cyber security skills gaps by hiring neurodivergent talent – but more support is needed for neurodivergent cyber security professionals, writes autistic tech journalist Nicholas Fearn Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Korean researchers invent silk-based security device

Experts from the Gwangju Institute of Science have built a digital security device based on natural silk fibres that they claim is practically unbreachable Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

MPs to debate landmark IoT security law

Proposed bill mandates tighter protections for connected products, and adds new rules for broadband roll-out into the bargain Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber Essentials programme gets biggest update since launch

NCSC implements a thorough revision of its Cyber Essentials scheme to reflect the changing security landscape Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital surveillance of remote workers may increase enterprise risk

From productivity tools to security threats, we explore how digital surveillance is forcing remote workers towards shadow IT. Continue Reading

India’s cyber security industry doubles in size amid pandemic

Revenues from cyber security products and services reached $9.85bn in 2021 thanks to rapid digitalisation and regulatory attention on data and privacy Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Scam losses in Australia hit record high

Australians lost a record A$323.7m to scams last year, with investment and romance scams accounting for the bulk of their losses Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

MoonBounce firmware bootkit shows advances in malicious implants

MoonBounce firmware bootkit shows evident technical improvements over others, making it a more dangerous threat to organisations. It is being used by Chinese state-backed actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Investigators find Beijing 2022 app riddled with security flaws

Security flaws in Olympic app may put personal health data at risk of compromise in a man-in-the-middle attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Trellix looks to democratise access to XDR in APAC

The company formed from the merger of FireEye Enterprise and McAfee will team up with managed service providers, among other efforts, to democratise access to extended detection and response capabilities in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Trellix XDR platform forged out of McAfee, FireEye union

The private equity owners of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye are merging the companies into a new entity to ‘define the future’ of cyber security through XDR technology Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: 2022 compliance preview – GDPR goes global

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of VigiTrust, about what’s looming in compliance, with regulations based on the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation plus the concept of cyber accountability Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

MEPs demand EU probe into Pegasus spyware abuse

A group of European Parliament Members has called for an EU-wide investigation into NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware after it emerged EU member states may have used it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Banks accused of neglecting customer security measures

Which? singles out Metro Bank, Virgin Money and TSB over insecure online banking processes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT departments struggling to secure printer endpoints

Printers are at risk of attack, just as any other endpoint device, but many IT leaders are struggling to secure their print infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Blackberry OS end of support

The end of support for Blackberry's smartphone operating system represents the end of an era in mobile technology Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Singapore retailer hit by data breach

The personal data of OG’s basic and gold members stored in a database managed by a third-party service provider was reportedly compromised Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

How APAC firms can stay ahead of cyber threats

Organisations will need to develop behavioural detection, machine learning and threat hunting capabilities to keep pace with the onslaught of cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Top 10 cyber security stories of 2021

Cyber security dominated the headlines in 2021, making it hard to gain a clear picture of what to pay attention to. What is an IT buyer to do? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is the IT sector beset by fear-mongering?

The arms race between hackers and security teams has led to a plethora of new technologies, but it can be hard to differentiate between sensible cyber purchases and those that are promoted by exaggerating risk Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Enabling secure remote working is once again a top priority

The pandemic has bought many new security risks, particularly around remote working. As the UK government once again urges people to work from home under its Plan B restrictions, these risks must be tackled as a priority Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

After Log4j, December Patch Tuesday piles on the pressure

December’s Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft contains several critical CVEs, but this month all attention is focused on the fall-out from Log4Shell, and burn-out is becoming a real issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The rules for a safer internet

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the government publishes the Online Safety Bill, we look at what the laws mean for internet services. A ransomware victim shares the insider story of the trauma of losing their corporate IT systems. And we ask, what happens when quantum computers get too powerful to verify their output? Read the issue now. Continue Reading

UK and US to collaborate on privacy innovation contest

Joint UK-US innovation challenge contest centring on privacy-enhancing technology announced at Summit for Democracy in Washington DC Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Elk Cloner

Elk Cloner is the first personal computer virus or self-replicating program known to have spread in the wild on a large scale. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Most consumers expect banks to cover losses to scams

Consumers expect banks to cover losses to cyber crime, as the number of attacks grows Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Millions of credit card details for sale on dark web for as little as 75p

The credit card details of millions of people from across the world can be bought by criminals using the dark web for as little as $1 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Kaspersky introduces cyber policy for bionic devices

Cyber firm Kaspersky has become one of the first organisations in the world to develop and implement a security policy covering the use of bionic devices and other forms of human augmentation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The way we talk and think about tech is crucial to helping solve the skills shortage crisis

Companies are looking to short-term fixes to find IT specialists, but there is still a need for long-term solutions Continue Reading

By

• Andy Heyes, Harvey Nash

Compliance, device management a challenge for NHS cyber teams

Information gleaned by asset visibility specialist Armis reveals that despite improvements, some daunting security challenges still dog the NHS Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

HP patches bugs in over 150 printer models

More than 150 HP multifunction printers are at risk of compromise through a series of newly disclosed vulnerabilities, one of them wormable Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ransomware teaches us the importance of data protection

Several years ago, around the time that ransomware attacks started making the front pages of mainstream newspapers, not just in the IT press, I took part in a number of webcasts on the topic. The ... Continue Reading

By

• Tony Lock, Freeform Dynamics

Computing at the edge: Let’s get on board

With the increasing complexity of networks today, whether it’s hybrid cloud infrastructure or time-sliced 5G, somehow we’ve got to manage it Continue Reading

By

• Graham Williamson

UK’s surveillance culture may be normalising use of tech for abuse

Intense surveillance of public spaces by UK authorities may be playing a part in the normalisation of cyber stalking in intimate relationships Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Consumer cyber bill to protect mobiles, smart devices

Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill will reinforce protections for consumer devices and mandate improvements to default security settings Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Can the tech community show us how to save the world?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we report from the COP26 conference on how the tech world’s collaborative open source model could help tackle climate change. Gartner has urged IT leaders to rethink their role as business come to rely on digital technologies. And we ask if your office security is at risk as staff return. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Black Friday cyber warning for 4,000 card-skimming victims

NCSC warns thousands of small retailers that their websites are being exploited to steal customer data Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Alert over spate of Iran-linked BitLocker attacks

A joint advisory from western cyber agencies warns of a campaign of ‘ongoing malicious activity’ by an Iran-linked APT group exploiting BitLocker to extort its targets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security startups line up on Cyber Runway

Some 108 cyber security startups representing the UK’s most cutting-edge innovators are to join Plexal’s Cyber Runway accelerator Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GovTech to enhance Government on Commercial Cloud

GCC 2.0 will include improvements in user onboarding and provide single credential access to public cloud services and engineering tools, among other areas Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: SASE – more than the sum of its parts?

Airbus Cybersecurity’s Paddy Francis asks what makes an integration of the various components of SASE more the sum of their parts, and what are the benefits and pitfalls? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Security Think Tank: What to find out before investing in SASE

Petra Wenham of the BCS shares her thoughts on what organisations need to consider as they investigate whether or not to invest in secure access service edge technology Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

IT Priorities 2022: APAC enterprises invest in digital future

Nearly two-thirds of enterprises in Asia-Pacific plan to increase their IT budgets next year in areas such as cloud computing and cyber security to secure their digital future Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

HPE’s Aruba networking unit hit by cyber attack

Undisclosed threat actor compromised data buckets used to run the Aruba Central cloud environment using a stolen access key Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finance ombudsman overturns more than three-quarters of bank decisions on APP fraud

The financial services ombudsman is siding with customers in over 75% of complaints against banks that refuse to repay losses to authorised push payment fraud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bank of England loses 161 computing devices in three years

Bank cannot account for phones, laptops and tablets that have gone missing over the past three years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

November Patch Tuesday drop fixes bugs in Excel, Exchange Server

Another relatively light Patch Tuesday drop from Microsoft addresses 55 vulnerabilities, two of them already being exploited Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital surveillance of remote workers may increase enterprise risk

From productivity tools to security threats, we explore how digital surveillance is forcing remote workers towards shadow IT Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

How to manage endpoint security in a hybrid work environment

The future of the workplace is clearly hybrid, but this has untold implications around endpoint security. How can businesses overcome these? Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

How a cloud-first strategy helped save animals in the pandemic

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the RSPCA about how its cloud-first strategy helped to save animals throughout the pandemic. Data warehouses have been part of the IT landscape for 30 years – but are they now old technology, and what’s next? And we assess how Brexit has affected risk and resilience in the datacentre. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How cosmetics retailer Lush made over its approach to authentication

Evolving approaches to IT at cosmetics retailer Lush meant the organisation’s previous approach to authentication was no longer up to scratch. Find out how it overcame this hurdle Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Technology spending reaches record levels, fuelling jobs boom

Spending on IT has reached its highest levels for a decade but a shortage of skilled IT professionals could dampen growth Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

The Netherlands works on resilience with large-scale national cyber exercise

For the Netherlands, the biggest challenge in a large-scale cyber crisis is to maintain speed while exercising due care Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Spyware firm NSO and others added to US banned Entity List

US government bans target Israeli spyware makers and cyber firms in Russia and Singapore Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor