Hackers and cybercrime prevention

Firms urged to gear up for new malware and tactics as threats proliferate

The volume of malware attacks reached a record level in 2018, with UK and India bucking global trend of increased ransomware attacks, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Geopolitical issues affecting cyber security

Geopolitical issues are affecting business decisions, according to the majority of cyber security professionals, a survey shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security challenge is to move as fast as the business

Adapting security to the pace at which the business is moving is one of the biggest challenges facing infosec professionals in the cloud era, says Palo Alto Networks Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lack of security skills exposing business to attack

The cyber skills shortage is leaving businesses at increased risk of attack as organisations continue to struggle to fill security-related positions, a survey shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Small businesses hit hardest by cyber crime costs

Small businesses felt the biggest impact of the UK’s cyber crime bill in 2018, research shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Digital Darwinism unkind to those who wait, says Palo Alto

As business-driven digital transformation, including the move to cloud, continues apace, companies need to rethink their approach to how they deploy and consume security, or risk being left behind Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government at odds over Huawei threat

The chair of the Science and Technology Committee has criticised the government’s vague response to concerns about Huawei’s activities in the UK Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government cyber security strategy is ‘chaotic’

Responding to potential threats at a national level is unfeasible given the time ministers are currently dedicating to Brexit negotiations, says shadow Cabinet Office minister Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Russian cyber espionage groups targeting EU governments

Two Russian cyber espionage groups are targeting EU governments ahead of European elections, say researchers Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Spike in cyber attacks targeting Cisco Webex

Cyber attacks targeting a leading web conference tool have increased dramatically and sextortion is becoming more popular with attackers, according to WatchGuard Technologies Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Police investigate Norsk Hydro ransomware attack

Ransomware attack on one of the world’s largest aluminium producers is under police investigation Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK cyber experts to support global company boards

A consortium of UK cyber security experts and academics is to support multinational company boards to tackle online threats and protect against cyber crime Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government organisations’ email security lagging

Email security in UK government organisations is lagging far behind that of central government, analysis reveals, with less than a third implementing standard protection Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Growing board focus on cyber risk challenges current thinking

As digital transformation continues to drive change in the business and risk landscape, business and cyber security leaders need to improve discussions around this topic Continue Reading

By

• Marcus Alldrick

Norsk Hydro confirms ransomware attack

A Norwegian aluminium producer has confirmed a ransomware attack is affecting several areas of its business, forcing it to switch to manual operations Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

More than half of EU firms report cyber attack losses

More than half of European firms admit business disruption and data loss due to cyber attacks in the past 24 months, with UK firms among the most targeted, a survey shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Firms urged to protect against spear phishing

Spear phishing attacks are sophisticated, targeted, costly and increasing in popularity among cyber attackers, a report warns Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How IT leaders should work with marketing

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we hear expert advice on how IT and marketing chiefs can work together to deliver a high-quality customer experience. We examine how supercomputers are transforming science by processing large-scale data analytics. And we look at one of the key ethical aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) – how to explain the decisions an AI makes. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Norwegian aluminium producer hit by ‘extensive’ cyber attack

A Norwegian aluminium producer has disclosed that it has come under cyber attack affecting several areas of its business as the firm faces claims of environmental damage Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Build in trust, experts advise cyber innovators

Trust will be increasingly important in the digital era, and is therefore a key component of new products and services, experts have told cyber security innovators Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EU law enforcement agencies prepare for major cyber attacks

Law enforcement agencies across the European Union are preparing for major cross-border cyber attacks, says Europol Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CyLon announces latest cyber security accelerator cohort

Swiss and Israeli cyber security startups join teams from the UK for CyLon’s ninth London accelerator cohort Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses failing to grasp DevSecOps

UK and US businesses are being exposed to security risks by a failure to integrate security into DevOps programmes, research shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

National Cyber Security Programme at risk of missing targets

The National Audit Office has sharply criticised the Cabinet Office over failings in how it set up the National Cyber Security Programme that mean it may struggle to meet its goals Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Avoid infosec mistakes of the past, urges Robert Hannigan

Technology innovators need to avoid security mistakes of the past by building in integrity so that products and services can be used with trust and confidence, says former GCHQ director Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Met Police collaborated with US prosecutors in WikiLeaks investigation

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it exchanged information on WikiLeaks staff in the UK with the US Department of Justice, which is conducting criminal investigations into the organisation Continue Reading

By

• BIll Goodwin & Niels Ladefoged

Security Think Tank: Map your own important risk metrics

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

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• RV Raghu, ISACA

IT Priorities 2019: ASEAN organisations lay digital foundations

Organisations in Southeast Asia are planning to shore up their IT infrastructure to speed up application development and become more customer focused Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Financial loss as a key security risk indicator

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

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• Mike Yeomans, Information Security Forum

Almost half UK firms hit by phishing attacks

Almost half of UK organisations have been compromised in the past two years using phishing attacks, despite high levels of cyber awareness and training, research shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attackers favouring stealthier attacks, says Darktrace

Cyber attackers are moving away from ransomware to stealthier tactics, including banking Trojans and cryptojacking, an analysis of attack data reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: No one key risk indicator is generic across all businesses

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

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• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Many firms unaware of data exfiltration threat

Many firms are unaware that they are being targeted by cyber espionage and that data is being exfiltrated from their networks by overseas adversaries, a security firm warns Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 7

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team talks cyber attacks against the NHS, the everywoman in Tech Forum, 5G connected cows, and covers off the latest round of revelations about Facebook’s data processing procedures Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

Despite failings, exec appetite for secure collaboration growing

Top business decision makers are more reckless than ever with company data, but the appetite for secure collaboration tools is growing, survey reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Is it true you can't manage what you don't measure?

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Jirasek, Foresight Cyber

Security Think Tank: Key considerations for determining cyber risk

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Citrix breach once again highlights password weaknesses

A reported breach of Citrix, which has potentially exposed data at hundreds of thousands of customer organisations, has once again highlighted the need for an alternative to passwords and the importance of supply chain security Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Growing awareness of mobile security risk

There is a growing awareness of mobile security risk among members of the information security community, but most admit accessing corporate data from personal devices or public Wi-Fi Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Equifax defends against scathing Senate report

Equifax chief says firm did take cyber security seriously in a response to a scathing Senate report on the credit rating agency’s 2017 data breach, which experts say highlights failings around open source software Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Five elements of a key cyber risk indicator

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Mary-Jo de Leeuw, (ISC)2

Machine identities for sale on dark web, business warned

Academics and security professionals are warning businesses that certificates used to establish trust and privacy on the internet are being weaponised and sold to cyber criminals bundled with other services Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Zuckerberg commits to Facebook becoming privacy-focused

After a storm of controversy and criticism over the way Facebook fails to protect users’ privacy, the company’s chief says he plans to transform it into a privacy-focused platform Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber espionage group behind SingHealth attack

A cyber espionage group dubbed Whitefly has been identified as the perpetrators behind Singapore’s largest data breach to date Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

5G one of several security challenges to CNI

5G technology is among the key security challenges facing critical national infrastructure and all other business organisations, according to the Information Security Forum Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Aim for business intelligence-driven system of risk indicators

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Invest in proactive approach to security and digital risk

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

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• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Cyber awareness of UK boards found wanting

Boards of many of the UK’s biggest firms must do more to be cyber aware, according to a government report. Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

RSA Security bets on digital risk management

RSA Security chief predicts that managing digital risk is set to become increasingly important to organisations as they complete their journeys to digital transformation Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Cyber metrics need to be meaningful

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Clearer North Korean link to global infrastructure malware campaign

Researchers have uncovered clearer links between a North Korean hacking group and a cyber espionage campaign targeting government, defence, nuclear, energy and financial organisations around the world Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT Priorities 2019: APAC keeping pace with digital transformation

Digital transformation is well underway among APAC enterprises which are looking to spend more on refreshing their IT infrastructure and technologies that improve employee productivity Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Using simulated disaster management to tackle the 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

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Teen becomes first millionaire through HackerOne bug bounties

A self-taught teen hacker from Argentina has become the first bug bounty hacker to become a millionaire by hacking to create a safer internet Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Supplier consolidation tops infosec goals for 2019

Supplier consolidation, collaboration between networking and security teams, and security awareness are the top priorities for information security professionals trying to prepare for the unknown, annual benchmark study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

London cyber security innovation centre issues open invitation

Government-backed cyber security innovation centre is calling for innovators to address key challenges facing the cyber security industry, offering a year of bespoke support to scale quickly Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Sextortion accounts for one in 10 spear-phishing emails

Email sextortion scams have increased in frequency and scope in the past four months, as well as evolving to bypass spam filters and trick recipients into reading the messages, research shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Icann calls for community collaboration to protect the internet

The domain name system watchdog Icann has reaffirmed its commitment to engage in collaborative efforts to ensure the security, stability and resiliency of the internet’s global identifier systems Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Chinese cyber attack group Bronze Union targeting weapons tech

Weapons technology is among the latest targets of a highly adaptable cyber espionage group that uses a wide range of publicly available and custom attack tools, presenting a challenge to network defenders Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Most UK consumers say Facebook should be regulated

Nearly three-quarters of UK consumers feel the social platform is damaging people’s mental health, survey shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security is battling to keep pace with cloud adoption

Cloud-based business initiatives are accelerating more rapidly than security teams can secure them, a survey reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber criminals earn $3bn a year exploiting social platforms

Businesses urged to respond to research findings that the ready availability of hacking tools, wildfire spread of malware and proliferation of cryptocurrency mining has seen a 300-fold increase in social media-enabled cyber crimes in two years Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EU gathers momentum in cyber security legislation and cooperation

The past two years have seen a step-change in the rate at which the European Union is putting legislation in place to support improved cyber security standards, collaboration and sharing of resources, says digital commissioner’s representative Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber power needs wider discussion, says GCHQ director

The topic of cyber power needs wider discussion, says GCHQ head in a speech about the opportunities of digital innovation such as 5G, as well as the accompanying complexity and risk, with particular mention of China and Huawei Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Android now Fido2 certified

Mobile operating system’s certification accelerates global migration beyond passwords, says Fido Alliance, which seeks to eliminate the world’s dependence on password-based security Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Facebook planned to spy on Android phone users, internal emails reveal

Facebook planned to use its Android app to track the location of its customers and to allow advertisers to send political advertising and invites to dating sites to ‘single’ people, confidential documents show Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

BlackBerry acquires Cylance to cement security capability

BlackBerry moves forward with its plans to establish itself as an enterprise security firm, focusing on internet-connected endpoints Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nato supports collaboration on cyber security

Nato supports collaboration and cooperation on cyber security as an organisation founded on the principle of collective defence, says representative Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses urged to prepare for extortion campaigns

C-level executives, lawyers and doctors are the top extortion targets of cyber criminals, a report by researchers tracking thousands of sextortion attempts reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cloud backup helps ASL Airlines evade ransomware and keep its business flying, says CIO

ASL Airlines took home the Best of Show prize at the Best of VMworld 2018 Awards after detailing how adopting a robust and resilient disaster recovery strategy is helping it evade ransomware threats Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK committed to working with EU cyber security partners

NCSC CEO uses cyber security conference in Brussels to set out his agency’s position on Brexit, 5G security, Huawei, market incentives and international cooperation on active cyber defence Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cooperation a key theme of Brussels cyber security symposium

Fostering trust-based cooperation of like-minded cyber security stakeholders to create new strategies, policies and standards emerged as a key theme at a cyber security conference in Brussels Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Toyota Australia under cyber attack

The company has confirmed the attempted attack that took out its email system, forcing employees to turn to other forms of communication to continue working Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Breaking the chains: How FUD is holding the cyber sector hostage

The cyber security industry must move past fear tactics and get back to the basics of good cyber security practice Continue Reading

By

• Tom Kranz, Cyber Lab

Huawei faces battle to win Nordic trust

Nordic countries are investigating the spying allegations made against Chinese networking supplier Huiawei Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Activist Lauri Love’s computer ‘contained hacked data’, says judge

Lauri Love, who has been accused of hacking into US government computer systems, has lost a legal action against the NCA for the return of his computers and storage device Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

No More Ransom releases GandCrab decryption tool

Another free decryption tool is available that allows anyone infected with the latest versions of the GandCrab ransomware to regain control of their files and avoid paying the fee Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT Priorities 2019: Cyber security and risk management among top priorities for 2019

This year’s Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities research shows that cyber security and risk management are among the top investment priorities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Healthcare providers should press on with digital transformation

Healthcare providers should continue digitisation efforts with security in mind amid looming cyber threats, says a top T-Systems executive Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Finding security in the cloud

When choosing a cloud security provider, enterprises will need to consider the level of data privacy and data security risk involved Continue Reading

By

• Krishna Balakrishnan

Collaborative security approaches underpin container success

Containers are helping organisations to accelerate age-old software development approaches, but success is underpinned by a constant and team-wide attention to security Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

CISOs under increasing pressure, study shows

Cyber security professionals are under growing pressure from workloads and budget deficits, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

(ISC)² invests in professional development of security workforce

Security industry association sets up Professional Development Institute to extend training offerings beyond certification Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: UTM a key part of a well-rounded security strategy

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

By

• Mary-Jo de Leeuw, (ISC)2

Telegram bot gets users hooked

Popular social media service provides a rich set of features for cyber criminals, RSA warns Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Dutch developer offers businesses nuclear security option for communications

Startup that created the secure platform for communication between world leaders at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands seeks to revolutionise business mail Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Security Think Tank: No tech will ever counter-balance poorly implemented processes

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Jirasek, Foresight Cyber

APAC healthcare providers losing $23m to cyber attacks

Healthcare organisations in the Asia-Pacific region could lose an average of $23.3m to cyber attacks, including losses from productivity and customer churn, a study finds Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Lauri Love takes legal action against NCA for return of seized computers

Lauri Love, a former engineering student who won a battle with the US Department of Justice against extradition to the US to face hacking charges, is suing the UK's intelligence agency, the NCA, for the return of his seized computers Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Security Think Tank: Know strengths and weaknesses of UTM systems

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

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• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

A guide to choosing cloud-based security services

Cloud-based security services can help organisations with a growing cloud footprint to reduce cost and address the manpower crunch in cyber security Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Approach UTM with caution

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

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• Simon McCalla, Nominet

Detail of Dutch reaction to Russian cyber attack made public deliberately

 Continue Reading

CW Benelux: Google helps Dutch schools to teach computer skills

A programme in the Netherlands to help primary schools provide computational thinking and programming, developed with financial support from Google, is well on schedule. Also read about four Russians’ attempted hack into the networks of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, and how Dutch delivery company PostNL is making savings by using robotic technology to automate administrative tasks. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: UTM attractive to SMEs, but beware potential pitfalls

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Data breaches in Australia show no sign of abating

Australia’s privacy watchdog recorded over 800 cases of data breaches, nearly one year into the country’s mandatory data breach notification regime Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Security Think Tank: Focus UTM capabilities on security and business needs

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

By

• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Security Think Tank: Many routes to UTM to boost security capabilities

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Security Think Tank: Arguments for and against unified threat management

How can organisations best use unified threat management tools to help stem the tide of data breaches? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

Massive uptick in cyber attacks targeting Student Loans Company

Cyber criminals used a range of techniques, as well as malware, malicious emails and calls, in attempts to access confidential financial data belonging to students, in massive uptick in attacks in the past year Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst