Hackers and cybercrime prevention

Dutch businesses not yet implementing NIS Directive

Little urgency to comply with the Network and Information Systems Security Act, which seeks to protect the Netherlands’ vital infrastructure and digital services from cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Northern Ireland generating cyber security knowledge and jobs

Northern Ireland is establishing itself as an international hub of cyber security research and innovation, providing growing employment opportunities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Some Australian firms still in the dark about cyber security

A report suggesting Australian firms are experiencing fewer cyber incidents has left its co-author perplexed with the findings Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Cyber criminals targeting C-suite, DBIR shows

Executives and cloud-based services are gaining popularity as targets for cyber criminals, according to the latest data breach investigations report Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Privileged access management moving to cloud

Survey shows nearly half of information security professionals are either planning to move privileged access management to the cloud or are exploring the possibility Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nurturing innovation at DWP

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out about the Department for Work and Pensions’ Innovation Dojo and how it’s helping to try out new digital ideas. We look at Anthos, Google’s new multicloud platform which the supplier claims will redefine enterprise IT. And we report from the NCSC cyber security conference, where experts discussed the lessons learned from recent high-profile attacks. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

AWS to power Australia’s 2021 online census

PwC Australia, one of two firms appointed by the government to run the next Census, will build and operate an online form and a website on Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Zero trust: A 21st century security model

Traditional corporate security models date back to a time when there were fewer, lower-level threats, but a zero trust model is better suited to the 21st century, according to the originator of the idea Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Norsk Hydro urges caution as it counts cost of cyber attack

Norwegian aluminium giant Norsk Hydro is urging partners to be cautious in the wake of a damaging ransomware attack in March as financial impact estimates come in above initial estimates Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Police down two dark web markets

Europol-supported coordinated law enforcement approach across Europe and the US was key to operations’ success Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Firms urged to embrace positive security trends to win cyber war

Modern cyber security challenges overshadow the information security successes of the past, but several positive trends are emerging as defenders come to grips with new threats, says Deloitte Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microservices introduce hidden security complexity, analyst warns

Microservice architecture – an approach to application development in which applications are built as a suite of modular services – simplifies development but complicates security, says KuppingerCole Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses unprepared for cyber breaches

Study shows many organisations lack IT security and operations basics, including visibility across their IT operations Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Defence secretary sacked over Huawei leak

Defence secretary Gavin Williamson has been sacked after leaking confidential discussions over the use of Huawei networking equipment Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BSA releases framework for secure software

Software industry advocacy group releases framework to facilitate flexible and comprehensive software security assessments Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Get more proactive on cyber security, says ex Europol chief

Business needs to get more proactive, collaborative, resilient and analytical to manage cyber risks posed by cyber criminals down to acceptable levels, says former Europol chief Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK gears up for new laws on IoT security

The UK plans to introduce measures to require that basic cyber security features are built into internet-connected devices Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber criminals increase use of fileless attacks

Fileless attacks are increasingly popular with cyber criminals, while Russia and China top the league of nation state data exfiltrators, threat data shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Most businesses vulnerable to supply chain cyber attacks

UK firms trail the leaders US and Germany in knowing the most about their partners’ cyber security practices, but most companies globally are in the dark about this growing source of vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 13

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team are joined by security editor Warwick Ashford to talk about his time at the CyberUK conferences, as well as connected cars, education in the UK, and Brian McKenna’s trip to China Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

Nearly half of UK IT pros report serious data breaches

Integration of security systems and employee training recognised as key ways to reduce the growing severity of data breaches Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fix the basics first, then worry about AI, advise experts

The freedom of the internet is at risk, with the cyber arms race and the industrialisation of hacking are set to continue as attackers move up the value chain to target trust mechanisms, threat experts predict Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Australians lost half a billion dollars to scams in 2018

Most of the losses went to investment scams as tricksters found innovative ways to dupe victims into parting with their money Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Surviving the existential cyber punch part 2

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Gregory Touhill, ISACA

Top lessons from cyber attacks

Cyber security experts weigh in on lessons learned from cyber attack experiences, underlining that recovery capability is as important as defence Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Huawei leak inquiry launched

Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill has instituted an inquiry aimed at discovering who leaked confidential discussions about UK mobile operators’ use of Huawei in their future 5G networks to the press Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GDPR cases drive bigger budgets for Nordic regulators

High-profile General Data Protection Regulation cases in Finland and Sweden have increased the workload for regulators, which are to receive an increase in funding Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Public becoming more aware of privacy abuses and unethical tech

Widespread abuses of privacy, biometric information and artificial intelligence mean the internet is in poor health, but growing popular awareness of its problems gives some cause for hope, says the Mozilla Foundation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK up for cyber challenge but work to be done, says minister

Lidington says National Cyber Security Strategy has “revolutionised the UK’s fight against cyber threats” Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC and ICO pledge to support data breach victims

The UK’s cyber security agency and privacy watchdog have agreed to work together to improve support for data breach victims and enhance cyber guidance Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

No final decision taken on Huawei 5G ban, government claims

Culture secretary tells MPs that a final decision on use of Huawei in UK 5G networks has not been taken, and says government is taking the leak of confidential discussions at the National Security Council very seriously Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cabinet Office addresses 5G security issue

Cabinet Office uses NCSC conference to lay out government’s approach to the security of 5G networks, as controversy grows around using equipment from Chinese supplier Huawei Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC looks to industry to scale Active Cyber Defence

The national cyber security agency is calling on wider government organisations as well as industry to help scale automated cyber attack blocking systems country-wide Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC to scale up intelligence sharing, says GCHQ director

The GCHQ director has outlined the agency’s cyber security mission in the third decade of the internet age at CyberUK, promising to scale up the sharing of declassified cyber intelligence with industry Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Global intelligence agencies share UK stage for first time

Representatives of intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes alliance are to share a public platform in the UK for the first time at this year’s NCSC CyberUK conference Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Casual collaboration comms pose security risk, survey shows

UK employees have a worryingly casual attitude to workplace communications, underling the need for employers to take steps to counter related cyber attack vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

WannaCry hero pleads guilty, urges others to stay on ‘good side’

Briton hailed as WannaCry hero finally pleads guilty to charges of writing and distributing malware, but urges security researchers to stay away from the “dark side” Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC urges better online security practices

UK cyber security agency is urging citizens to improve online safety and password security after research reveals most-hacked passwords and a survey exposes gaps in online security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

20 firms join Tech Nation’s cyber security scale-up programme

Tech Nation scale-up programme is designed to boost the UK’s cyber sector, accelerate the growth of its top companies and build a robust, cross-industry network Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

State-sponsored hackers are hijacking DNS, researchers warn

A DNS-hijacking campaign targeting the Middle East and Africa may lead to actors more broadly attacking the global DNS system Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nearly a quarter of tech firms do not security check products

Nearly a quarter of organisations polled do not run security checks on products, and nearly a third admitted to shipping products with known security vulnerabilities, a survey shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

TfL suspends Wi-Fi service as Extinction Rebellion spreads

Transport for London has cut off its public Virgin Media Wi-Fi service to disrupt climate change protests Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Wipro admits to potential breach to employee accounts by phishing attack

Indian IT services company Wipro is investigating a phishing attack, which hit some staff email accounts and launched attacks on customer environments Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Surviving the existential cyber punch

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Gregory Touhill, ISACA

Energy industry needs to up cyber defences, warns report 

Cyber threat actors are advanced and persistent, but firms in the energy industry are using outdated systems and technology to save money, putting them at risk of cyber attacks, warns F-Secure report Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Palo Alto Networks fends off its cyber adversaries

Palo Alto Networks CIO Naveen Zutshi talks up the company’s approach in keeping threat actors at bay Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Zero trust is about more than products

The zero trust security model is more than just products and network segmentation, it’s an architectural design principle with identity at its core that needs to be applied enterprise-wide, says KuppingerCole Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Seven steps to manage risk of catastrophic cyber attack

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Automation will bring job security, say most IT security pros

Most security professionals believe that although automation can support humans, it will not result in a reduction in job opportunities, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC seeks new breed of cyber security startups

The UK intelligence community is seeking to promote a new breed of technology startup to help detect, respond to and facilitate rapid recoveries from cyber attacks on the UK Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How botnets pose a threat to the IoT ecosystem

While connected devices are transforming our personal and working lives in a multitude of ways, they are also a growing security risk – attackers are hijacking these devices and turning them into internet of things botnets Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Security Think Tank: Cyber attack survival not a matter of luck

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Police local cyber crime units get multimillion pound boost

UK policing marks the completion of the local phase of a national cyber crime programme to complement regional and national response capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government breach data highlights cyber skills misconception

Results of a government-sponsored survey highlight a dangerous misconception around cyber skills, according to a former GCHQ trainer Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Aim for integrated resilience, continuity and recovery

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

Most organisations still lack incident response plans

Most companies lack incident response plans, others fail to test them and nearly half are not GDPR compliant, but some report improved security through automation, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Triton industrial malware group still active, researchers warn

Security researchers have found traces of a Russian-linked cyber attack group in another critical infrastructure facility, prompting calls for increased diligence around industrial cyber security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Middle East: Visibility and security of networks are top IT priorities

The 2019 Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey shows that enterprise buyers in the Middle East, like those in the UK and Europe, are looking to lock down their networks in the face of an almost constant barrage of threats and malicious actors. Also read how Facebook planned to use its Android app to track the location of its customers and to allow advertisers to send political advertising, and what further details operator O2 has revealed about how it is planning for the advent of 5G. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Incident response vital to guard against catastrophic cyber attack

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

A quarter of phishing emails bypass Office 365 security

Cloud-based email is leaving enterprises vulnerable to phishing attacks capable of giving cyber criminals access to a wide range of critical data, warn security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Why cyber security needs to be prioritised at board level

Despite the rising number of headline-grabbing security breaches, many company executives are still not prioritising cyber security in the boardroom Continue Reading

By

• Tom Kranz, Cyber Lab

Digital doppelgangers for sale to defeat anti-fraud tech

Security researchers have uncovered an online market selling digital identities to help cyber criminals to defeat anti-fraud technologies, as financial cyber crime becomes a bigger threat than ever before Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK councils team up to boost cyber security

Three UK councils and data analysis firm Splunk have teamed up to improve cyber defence capabilities and maintain their security systems Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Using data science at Sainsbury’s

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to one of the UK’s leading retailers, Sainsbury’s, about its data science strategy and how it helps the firm to better understand customers. We take a detailed look at the evolution of the business intelligence market and the impact of big data. And we find out how simulated disaster management can tackle the security skills gap. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How simulated disaster management can help tackle security skills gap

With the increasing need for cyber security professionals, organisations are turning to new ways to address the skills gap facing the security sector Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: BC/DR plan key to cyber attack survival

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 11

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team discuss Google’s forthcoming cloud conference, how tech can be used to boost social inclusion, while data analytics is being hailed as a means of assisting MI5 with with its terrorism detection work Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

GCHQ cyber courses for teens recognised by qualification board

The Scottish Qualifications Authority has accredited courses pioneered by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre to teach teenagers about cyber security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ransomware getting more targeted, warns Flashpoint

Ransomware attacks are becoming more targeted and designed to infect different sized organisations in specific industries and regions, say security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK plans for online safety laws not enough, says BCS

Government plans for online safety laws need to be complemented with a national cyber safety programme in schools, according to IT and computer science professional and educational body Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: How to reduce the impact of a potential cyber extinction event

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Andy Jones, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Critical infrastructure under relentless cyber attack

A lack of visibility into the attack surface, inadequate security staffing and reliance on manual processes undermine operational technology security capabilities, a study reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

European firms see value in ‘known good’ approach to security

European data protection regulations are driving enterprise interest in an approach to security being championed by virtualisation software maker VMware, says the company’s security lead Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Huawei ban will cost UK plc £6.8bn, delay 5G

If the UK government decides to impose tighter restrictions, or an outright ban on the use of Huawei in national 5G networks, the country faces severe consequences, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Researchers uncover US-based malware distribution centre

More than a dozen US-based web servers are operating as the malware equivalent of an Amazon fulfilment centre to target businesses, security researchers have found Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Document-based malware on the rise, businesses warned

Document-based malware spiked in the first quarter of the year, building on a gradual rise in the past year, warn researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fresh approach needed to reap cloud security benefits

Transitioning to cloud-based services offers businesses an opportunity to improve security capabilities, but only if they adopt a proactive cloud-native approach, says Palo Alto Networks cloud security expert Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government urges businesses and charities to up cyber security

The UK government is urging businesses and charities to take action to prevent cyber attacks as the costs go up, despite an overall reduction in breaches, partly driven by new data protection laws Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Akamai to open second traffic scrubbing centre in Australia

New centre in Melbourne will meet growing demand for scrubbing services to mitigate the impact of distributed denial of service attacks in Australia Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Women now almost a quarter of cyber security workforce

Women in cyber security are younger, have achieved higher levels of education and are assuming leadership roles at higher rates than men, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Four in 10 leading banks failing on email fraud protection

Top UK traditional and challenger banks risk exposing customers to email fraud, a study reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attacks increasingly exploiting supply chain weaknesses

Cyber attacks are increasingly characterised by supply chain attacks, counter incident response and lateral movement, research reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Huawei reports record numbers despite tumultuous year

Huawei has become one of the world’s largest technology companies by revenue, suggesting the accusations over its ties to the Chinese government are failing to have much impact Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Thales completes acquisition of Gemalto

Multi-billion-euro acquisition gives Thales a global leadership position in digital identity and security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Black Hat Asia 2019: Get ready for the cyber arms race

The arms race is now squarely in the cyber realm as defence teams and threat actors arm themselves with AI tools Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Rapidly multiplying IoT cyber attacks use well-known weaknesses

Internet of things threats and attacks are increasing rapidly, but rely on well-known security weaknesses, security researchers discover Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Mind the Brexit gap in cyber security

Leaving the EU could mean a new cyber security regime for the UK – firms need to understand how the changes might affect them Continue Reading

By

• Elliot Rose

Singapore government to review data security in public sector

A high-level committee comprising ministers and private sector security experts will review data security practices and recommend measures to better protect citizens’ data Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Magento e-commerce sites urged to apply security update

Security experts are urging companies using the Magento e-commerce site to apply security updates without delay to avoid a disastrous hacking campaign Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Infosec pros slam government-mandated backdoors

Government-mandated encryption backdoors increase vulnerability to nation-state attacks, according to the majority of cyber security professionals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Huawei making no progress on addressing security concerns

Huawei has made no material progress on addressing the issues identified last year by the NCSC, according to the latest highly critical report from its HSCEC Oversight Board Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Encryption adoption driven by new tech and compliance

The adoption of encryption is at its highest level yet, driven by the need to protect data generated by new digital initiatives, but still less than half of organisations are applying it consistently across the enterprise Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK IoT research centre to tackle cyber risk

A government-backed national IoT research centre has been launched as part of UK efforts to become a world leader in tackling cyber threats   Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attacks targeting industrial control systems on the rise

Malicious cyber activity increased to almost half of the industrial infrastructure protected by Kaspersky Lab in 2018, but the UK is among the most secure countries, the security firm reports Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Norsk Hydro cyber attack cost estimates up to $41m

Initial estimates have put the financial impact of last week’s ransomware attack on the Norwegian aluminium producer of up to nearly $41m, raising questions about cyber insurance coverage Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Police make 61 arrests in global crackdown on dark web

Law enforcement agencies from the US, Canada and Europe, including the UK, have joined forces to target suppliers and buyers of illegal goods on dark web marketplaces and warn buyers of risks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Europe passes controversial Copyright Directive

The European Parliament has passed a new Copyright Directive, including a number of highly controversial articles Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BT switches on quantum network link at Adastral Park

BT has opened its quantum network link between its Adastral Park research base and the UK Quantum Network node at the University of Cambridge Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Asus releases fix for supply chain cyber attack

Asus has released a fix for a supply chain attack and downplayed the impact on customers while promising to contact all those affected as incident highlights code signing vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nominet urges SMEs to register .uk domains to thwart squatters

The automatic right of .co.uk domain name holders to register the shorter .uk domains ends in June Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor