Hackers and cybercrime prevention

Dutch research firm TNO pictures the SOC of the future

In only a few years, security operations centres will have a different design and layout, and far fewer will remain Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohius

Inside Israel’s cyber security operations

An emergency phone line allows cyber security analysts at the Israel Computer Emergency Response Team to map threats against national infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Chinese spies target vulnerable home office kit to run cyber attacks

China’s APT40 is ramping up targeting of victims using vulnerable small and home office networking kit as command and control infrastructure, according to an international alert Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Lessons from war: How Israel is fighting Iranian state-backed hacking

The general director of the Israel National Cyber Directorate talks about the rise in cyber attacks and what lessons the country has gleaned to defend against hacking from foreign parties Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Atos jumps on ‘moving train’ for Euro 2024

Atos provides the IT supporting major recurring sporting events including Uefa’s European Football Championship Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Synnovis attack highlights degraded, outdated state of NHS IT

More cyber attacks against the health service are likely, and will succeed if something isn’t done to address the increasingly elderly NHS IT estate, experts are warning Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How do cybercriminals steal credit card information?

Cybercriminals have various methods at their disposal to hack and exploit credit card information. Learn what they are, how to prevent them and what to do when hacked. Continue Reading

By

• Andres Phillips

Safeguarding democracy from cyber threat peril  

There has been an increase in disturbing activity emerging on the dark web involving the sale of public sector assets, including election data Continue Reading

By

•  Barry O’Connell

NCA’s Operation Morpheus targets illicit Cobalt Strike use

International law enforcement operation targets cyber criminals using the Cobalt Strike penetration testing framework for dodgy purposes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber Essentials at 10: Success or failure?

The Cyber Essentials scheme passed its 10th anniversary in June 2024. CyberSmart's Adam Pilton reflects on progress and argues that more needs to be done to raise security awareness among Britain's small business community Continue Reading

By

• Adam Pilton

How FWD is driving its digital strategy

FWD’s group chief technology and operations officer talks up how the pan-Asian insurer is driving change faster and putting technology at the heart of its services Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

How Recorded Future is operationalising threat intelligence

Recorded Future is investing in APIs to enable automated security workflows, among other measures, to help organisations overcome the hurdles of operationalising threat intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Israel’s cyber chief calls for international front against Iranian hackers

Israel’s cyber chief has called for international action against Iran over state-backed hacking Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange freed from prison

A deal reached with US authorities will end the WikiLeaks founder’s years-long legal saga, setting him free if he pleads guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHS experts raise warning over patient data breach risk in registries project

Clinicians warn that the NHS England Outcome Registries Platform has poor security and is vulnerable to cyber attack, putting critical patient data at risk of being exposed Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sellafield pleads guilty to criminal charges over cyber security

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority-backed organisation Sellafield Ltd pleads guilty to criminal charges brought over significant cyber security failings that could have compromised sensitive nuclear information Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Qilin ransomware gang publishes stolen NHS data online

The ransomware gang behind a major cyber attack on NHS supplier Synnovis has published a 400GB trove of private healthcare data online Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Black Basta ransomware crew may be exploiting Microsoft zero-day

A Microsoft vulnerability that was addressed without fanfare in March may in fact have been exploited as a zero-day by the notorious Black Basta ransomware gang, threat hunters warn Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

RCE flaw and DNS zero-day top list of Patch Tuesday bugs

An RCE vulnerability in a Microsoft messaging feature and a third-party flaw in a DNS authentication protocol are the most pressing issues to address in Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pure Storage hit by Snowflake credential hackers

Pure Storage emerges as the latest victim of a fast-spreading breach of Snowflake customers targeting users with lax credential security measures in place Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

More than 160 Snowflake customers hit in targeted data theft spree

Mandiant reports that more than 160 Snowflake customers have been hit in a broad data theft and extortion campaign targeting organisations that have failed to pay proper attention to securing valuable credentials Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

General election 2024: Liberal Democrats thread digital commitments throughout manifesto

The Lib Dems have promised a new industrial strategy and emphasised the importance of the digital sector, skills and regulating AI, as they lay out plans for the UK general election Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

NHS blood stocks running low after ransomware attack

The NHS is appealing for people with O Positive and O Negative blood types to come forward to donate as hospitals in London struggle to keep critical services running after ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DDoS gang threatens to disrupt European elections

Russian hacktivists are threatening to disrupt the European Parliament elections, while the BBC reports on new deepfake threats to the UK’s electoral process Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bitdefender makes MDR services free to NHS bodies hit by Qilin

Bitdefender offers NHS bodies affected by a major cyber incident free access to its product suite, as the health service continues to deal with the impact of the Qilin ransomware attack on partner Synnovis Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sophos uncovers Chinese state-sponsored campaign in Southeast Asia

Sophos found three distinct clusters of activity targeted at a high-level government organisation that appeared to be tied to Chinese interests in the South China Sea Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

FBI finds 7,000 LockBit decryption keys in blow to criminal gang

The US authorities say they now have more than 7,000 LockBit decryption keys in their possession and are urging victims of the prolific ransomware gang to come forward Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Qilin ransomware gang likely behind crippling NHS attack

Security experts investigating a major cyber attack on an NHS partner that has caused frontline services across South London to grind to a halt say the Qilin ransomware gang appears to be the culprit Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

OAIC files civil penalty action against Medibank

The OAIC alleges that Medibank failed to take reasonable steps to protect the personal information of 9.7 million Australians in the October 2022 data breach Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: The cloud just got more complicated

This month, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how CISOs and security practitioners should ensure that the business can make use of public cloud services safely and securely and avoid accidental or deliberate data leakage. Continue Reading

By

• Rob Dartnall, SecAlliance

Building a more secure, and sustainable, open source ecosystem

In April 2024, the discovery of an intentionally-placed backdoor in the open source XZ Utils data compression caused concern. Sentry's Chad Whitacre says a more thoughtful approach is needed to balance the individual freedom and creativity of open source, with more rigorous security practice. Continue Reading

By

• Chad Whitacre

NHS services at major London hospitals disrupted by cyber attack

A major cyber attack at NHS services provider Synnovis is disrupting frontline care at hospitals across London Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia used fake AI Tom Cruise in Olympic disinformation campaign

Microsoft threat researchers report a surge in Russian disinformation campaigns targeting the 2024 Summer Olympics, including AI-enhanced propaganda Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

97 FTSE 100 firms exposed to supply chain breaches

Between March 2023 and March 2024, 97 out of 100 companies on the UK’s FTSE 100 list were put at risk of compromise following supply chain breaches at third-party suppliers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Major breaches allegedly caused by unsecured Snowflake accounts

Significant data breaches at Ticketmaster and Santander appear to have been orchestrated through careful targeting of the victims’ Snowflake cloud data management accounts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ticketek Australia hit by data breach

Customer names, dates of birth and email addresses of Ticketek Australia account holders reportedly impacted in latest data breach affecting event ticketing firm Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Europol sting operation smokes multiple botnets

Malware droppers including Bumblebee and Smokeloader were among those targeted in one of the largest ever joint operations against cyber criminal botnets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Proofpoint exposes AFF scammers’ piano gambit

Ransomware and nation state actors dominate the headlines, but fraud and scams still net career cyber criminals thousands from unsuspecting members of the public. Proofpoint reports on a campaign targeting victims of a musical inclination Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Parliamentarians warn of UK election threat from Russia, China and North Korea

Joint parliamentary security committee chair Margaret Beckett writes to prime minister urging government to prepare for foreign states interfering with 4 July election Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Rockwell urges users to disconnect ICS equipment

ICS systems maker Rockwell Automation calls on users to take steps to secure their equipment, and reminds them there is no reason to ever have its hardware connected to the public internet, as it tracks an increase in global threat activity Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ORBs: Hacking groups’ new favourite way of keeping their attacks hidden

Beware the ORB: why attacks on your network could come from a home router down the street Continue Reading

By

• Steve Ranger

The Security Interviews: What is the real cyber threat from China?

Former NCSC boss Ciaran Martin talks about nation-state attacks, why the UK has become so exercised about cyber espionage, and how our leaders are in danger of misunderstanding their adversaries Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ATM jackpotting

ATM jackpotting is the exploitation of physical and software vulnerabilities in automated banking machines that result in the machines dispensing cash. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange granted appeal

Two high court judges granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leave to appeal against extradition to the US after defence lawyers argued that the US had failed to give adequate assurances Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Why the UK needs to fix its broken IT security market

Ollie Whitehouse, CTO of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, says the market for secure software is broken. Are new laws required to make software companies liable for poor security? Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

US authorities crack BreachForums for a second time

The BreachForums data leak website has been seized by the FBI and international partners again Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GCHQ to protect politicians and election candidates from cyber attacks

The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, to protect election candidates from hostile state cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

WikiLeaks founder’s extradition case labelled ‘institutional corruption’

Call for Julian Assange to be prosecuted in the US has been condemned as ‘institutional corruption on a judicial level’ with the WikiLeaks founder a ‘political prisoner’ Continue Reading

By

• Charlie Moloney

China poses genuine and increasing cyber security risk to UK, says GCHQ director

GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler uses her first major public speech to warn that China poses a significant cyber security threat to the UK Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CyberUK 24: UK insurance industry gets tough on ransomware

Three of the UK’s largest insurance associations have signed on to a new initiative spearheaded by the NCSC to try to bring down the number of ransomware payments being made Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

bug bounty program

A bug bounty program, also called a vulnerability rewards program (VRP), is a crowdsourcing initiative that rewards individuals like ethical hackers and security researchers for discovering and reporting vulnerabilities and bugs in software. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

The UK may not have a choice on a ransomware payment ban

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Ian Thornton-Trump

Major breach of customer information developing at Dell

Almost 50 million data records relating to Dell customers appear to have been compromised in a major cyber breach Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber attack victims need to speak up, says ICO

The Information Commissioner’s Office is urging organisations to be transparent and learn from each other’s mistakes as it reveals most of the cyber attacks it responds to stem from the same core errors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Wales gets UK’s first national SOC

The first national security operations centre of its kind in the UK has opened in the south of Wales to safeguard public sector bodies across the country Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

threat actor

A threat actor, also called a malicious actor or bad actor, is an entity that is partially or wholly responsible for an incident that affects -- or has the potential to affect -- an organization's security. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Ivy Wigmore

Enhance identity controls before banning ransomware payments

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen McDermid

Police accessed phone records of ‘trouble-making journalists’

The Police Service of Northern Ireland ran a rolling programme to monitor phone records of journalists to identify the source of police leaks, it was claimed today Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Germany: European Court of Justice ruling on EncroChat could lead to new legal challenges

A ruling by the European Court of Justice could prompt legal challenges in EncroChat prosecutions in Germany and other EU states Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Chinese APT suspected of Ministry of Defence hack

A cyber attack on the Ministry of Defence is suspected to be the work of threat actors working on behalf of Chinese intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCA unmasks LockBitSupp cyber gangster who toyed with pursuers

The NCA and its partners have named the administrator of the LockBit ransomware gang, LockBitSupp, as Dmitry Khoroshev, who now faces sanctions and criminal charges Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Casting a critical eye on HMRC’s IR35 checker tool

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we investigate what has been going on with HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool. We also speak to the CIO of Danfoss about making datacentres greener and explore the issue of restoring data and system backups after a ransomware or cyber attack. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

social engineering penetration testing

Social engineering penetration testing is the practice of deliberately conducting typical social engineering scams on employees to ascertain the organization's level of vulnerability to this type of exploit. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Microsoft beefs up cyber initiative after hard-hitting US report

Microsoft is expanding its recently launched Secure Future Initiative in the wake of a hard-hitting US government report on recent nation state intrusions into its systems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Adobe expands bug bounty programme to account for GenAI

Adobe has expanded the scope of its HackerOne-driven bug bounty scheme to incorporate flaws and risks arising from the development of generative artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Patch GitLab vuln without delay, users warned

The addition of a serious vulnerability in the GitLab open source platform to CISA’s KEV catalogue prompts a flurry of concern Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

EU calls out Fancy Bear over attacks on Czech, German governments

The European Union, alongside member states Czechia and Germany, have accused Russian government APT Fancy Bear of being behind a series of attacks on political parties and government bodies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What is the dark web (darknet)?

The dark web is an encrypted portion of the internet not visible to the general public via a traditional search engine such as Google. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Katie Terrell Hanna

NCSC updates warning over hacktivist threat to CNI

The NCSC and CISA have warned about the evolving threat from Russia-backed hacktivist threat actors targeting critical national infrastructure, after a number of American utilities were attacked Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dropbox Sign user information accessed in data breach

Account data belonging to Dropbox Sign users was accessed by an unknown threat actor after they hacked into the organisation’s backend infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ukrainian national sentenced over REvil ransomware spree

A 24-year-old Ukrainian man has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison after being convicted of his role in the REvil ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Okta is fending off identity-based attacks

Okta has been bolstering the security of its own infrastructure and building new tools to scan customer environments for vulnerable identities, among other efforts to fend off identity-based attacks Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

EMEA CISOs must address human factors behind cyber incidents

The 17th annual Verizon report on data breaches makes for sobering reading for security pros, urging them to do more to address the human factors involved in cyber incidents, and highlighting ongoing issues with zero-day patching Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Better hygiene may mitigate the need to ban ransomware payments

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Becky Gelder, Turnkey Consulting

Keeper to help Williams F1 keep up with cyber challenges

Keeper Security signs up to support F1 team Williams Racing with credential management ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bad bot traffic in Australia grew 23% in 2023

Traffic from bad bots that perform malicious tasks accounted for 30.2% of Australia’s internet traffic in 2023 Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Ransomware payment bans need universal buy-in

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Chapman

Security Think Tank: Maybe let's negotiate with terrorists

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Mark Cunningham Dickie

Zero trust is a strategy, not a technology

Zero-trust security should be seen as a strategy to protect high-value assets and is not tied to a specific technology or product, says the model’s creator John Kindervag Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Cyber sector, you have failed this community

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Allan Liska

GooseEgg proves golden for Fancy Bear, says Microsoft

Microsoft’s threat researchers have uncovered GooseEgg, a never-before-seen tool being used by Forest Blizzard, or Fancy Bear, in conjunction with vulnerabilities in Windows Print Spooler Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Questions for IT and cyber leaders from the CSRB Microsoft report

The US government's CSRB report on last year's state sponsored cyber attacks on Microsoft raises significant concerns for Redmond and its customers. Expert Owen Sayers outlines five key questions IT and cyber security leaders should now consider Continue Reading

By

• Owen Sayers, Secon Solutions

Fujifilm plans to ‘make tape easy’ with Kangaroo SME appliance

Fujifilm to add 100TB SME-focused Kangaroo tape infrastructure in a box to existing 1PB offer, as energy efficiency and security of tape make it alluring to customers Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

International police operation infiltrates LabHost phishing website used by thousands of criminals

The Metropolitan Police working with international police forces have shut down LabHost, a phishing-as-a-service website that has claimed 70,000 victims in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CSA warns of emerging security risks with cloud and AI

Few users appreciate the security risks of cloud and have the expertise to implement the complex security controls, says CSA chief executive David Koh Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Approaches to ransomware need a course correction

In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

Mandiant formally pins Sandworm cyber attacks on APT44 group

Mandiant has formally attributed a long-running campaign of cyber attacks by a Russian state actor known as Sandworm to a newly designated advanced persistent threat group to be called APT44 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US provides assurances over extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Extradition of the WikiLeaks founder moves a step closer after the US government gives diplomatic assurances over his treatment in the US. Assange supporters accuse the US of ‘weasel words’ Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CISOs not yet convinced to invest in AI

CISOs say their eyes are fixed firmly on threats like ransomware and supply chain attacks, and while AI is becoming a threat that needs to be dealt with, it’s not yet an immediate spending priority Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Innovation Awards: Balancing security and user experience

The National University of Singapore’s Safe initiative has strengthened the security of IT systems and end-user devices while prioritising user experience through passwordless access Continue Reading

By

• Edwin Yapp

2024 election security: Confronting disinformation and deepfakes

Although disinformation and deepfakes are a threat to electoral integrity, we already have ways to counter emerging threats and there is an opportunity is to adapt and scale these approaches to counter the challenge to democracy, writes Saj Huq. Continue Reading

By

• Saj Huq, Plexal

Recognising APAC’s trailblazers in digital transformation

DBS Bank and NUS were among the top industry innovators that were lauded for various transformational initiatives at the Computer Weekly Innovation Awards APAC 2024 Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

More social engineering attacks on open source projects observed

In the wake of the recent XZ Utils scare, maintainers of another open source project have come forward to say they may have experienced similar social engineering attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Threat actors look to stolen credentials

In 2023, threat actors wrought havoc on corporate networks by logging in through valid accounts, and as bad actors begin investing in AI to help them identify priority targets, this problem is only expected to worsen in the future Continue Reading

By

• Martin Borrett

Apple iPhone security alert renews spyware concerns

An Apple security alert received by users in 92 countries raises fresh fears over ongoing campaigns by users of mercenary spyware products Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber crooks poison GitHub search to fool developers

Researchers share data on new technique whereby malicious actors are manipulating GitHub’s search function and using cleverly crafted repositories to distribute malware Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Biden considering whether to end prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

US president Joe Biden says he is considering requests by Australia to end the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under espionage and computer fraud charges Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK plc failing on multiple cyber measures

Government report shows 50% of businesses and 32% of charities reported a cyber attack or breach in the past 12 months and organisations across the UK are failing on multiple cyber measures Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is a cyber arms control treaty out of reach?

The world needs cyber arms control more than ever, but the challenges facing a multilateral agreement will be hard to surmount, according to researchers at Germany’s Digital Society Institute Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK vet network CVS hit by cyber attack

Operations at UK-based veterinary network CVS have been disrupted by a cyber incident of an as-yet undisclosed nature Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor