Hackers and cybercrime prevention

Security Think Tank: Use layered security and patch management to defeat fileless malware

What should organisations do at the very least to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Cryptojacking cyber criminals up their game

Cyber criminals hijacking computing resources to mine for cryptocurrencies are raising their efforts to bypass enterprise security controls, researchers have found Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Multi-layered security key to fileless malware defence

What should organisations do, at the very least, to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Mac malware more than doubled in 2017

Malware targeting Apple Mac computers more than doubled from 2016 to 2017, according to security firm Malwarebytes Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Europe: Germany’s Lemoncat takes catering to the cloud

Business catering startup Lemoncat has taken advantage of the affordable cost of living in Berlin and is shaking up the catering sector by harnessing the Amazon and Salesforce clouds. Also in this issue, read how Moscow’s government is taking advantage of high penetration of broadband and mobile internet to expand innovative services under the Russian capital’s smart city programme, and how organisations in the Netherlands still have much to do to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation. Continue Reading

UK cyber security certification pilot launched

UK businesses now have the opportunity to improve their cyber security and prove they have taken steps to protect data they hold, thanks to a police-backed certification scheme Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses warned not to ignore cryptojacking threat

Businesses should not ignore the threat of malware designed to carry out illicit cryptocurrency mining, warns NTT Security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Only half of ransomware payments honoured

Only half of ransomware victims who pay ransoms to cyber criminals recover their data, a report reveals, pointing to a need for more effective strategies to deal with these attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses under pressure to allow easier access to cloud

Businesses are under pressure from employees to use consumer-focused authentication methods for cloud applications, but that could have both positive and negative security implications, warns Gemalto Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Aim to detect and contain fileless malware attacks quickly

What should organisations do at the very least to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Cyber attacks up nearly 20% in 2017

Research by SonicWall shows there were 9.32 billion malware attacks globally last year, but ransomware attacks fell by 71% Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Cyber security is a team sport, says NCSC

The UK’s national cyber security agency aims to help organisations understand the need to act collaboratively and collectively against the cyber threat, urging them to raise the bar Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

World Economic Forum creates fintech focus group for cyber security

WEF consortium of companies will focus on protecting financial technology firms from cyber threats Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government sets out tighter security measures for IoT devices

The government has announced plans to develop a new code of practice to improve the security of connected internet of things devices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Social engineering at the heart of fileless malware attacks

What should organisations do at the very least to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

EC to boost cyber security support and collaboration

The European Commission is focused on boosting cyber security support and collaboration throughout the European Union Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: How to tackle fileless malware attacks

What should organisations do at the very least to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Davis, (ISC)²

Most healthcare organisations have been breached, report shows

 Less than a third of global healthcare organisations remain untouched, as data breaches rise across the industry, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber crime is a top threat to UK charities, says NCSC

Cyber crime poses the most serious threats to UK charities, the National Cyber Security Centre has warned Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber threat to industrial control systems highest yet

The cyber threat to industrial control systems has never been greater, according to a report analysing malicious activity aimed at such systems Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Equifax ups breach figure by a further 2.5 million

Credit rating agency Equifax has increased the number of US records believed to have been compromised in 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Memcached servers irresistible to DDoS attackers, expert warns

In the light of the biggest distributed denial of service attack to date against GitHub, organisations should ditch memcached servers or risk a blizzard of blistering attacks, says security researcher Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

New privacy fears as IT challenges delay surveillance oversight body by a year

IT challenges have delayed government plans for an independent body to authorise requests to access the public’s internet and phone records by nearly a year, raising new legal and privacy concerns Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Imaging systems biggest security risk in healthcare

Imaging systems have been identified as the biggest cyber security risk in the healthcare sector, a report on internet of things security has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security fears delay roll-out of national e-voting system in Finland

Project enters problem-solving phase to identify advanced, effective and best practice solutions to develop a secure internet-based voting system Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Salary is not top way to attract cybersec pros, report reveals

Salary is not the highest priority for cyber security professionals, a report on hiring and retaining top cyber security talent shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Firms failing to learn from cyber attacks

Organisations are failing to learn from cyber attacks, and lax security practices are leaving organisations worldwide open to damaging cyber attacks, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government must rewrite illegal sections of Snoopers’ Charter, court told

A court has been asked to give ministers until July 2018 to rewrite powers to require phone and internet companies to retain data on the population. The government acknowledges parts of surveillance regime are unlawful Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Businesses urged to patch Oracle WebLogic flaw

Security researchers are again urging businesses to patch an Oracle WebLogic flaw that continues to be exploited by cyber criminals to mine cryptocurrencies Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Understanding the cyber threat key to UK defence, says NCSC

Understanding cyber threats is key to defending the UK and ensuring it is a safe place to do business, says the National Cyber Security Centre Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK local councils under huge cyber attack pressure

Investigation underlines importance of security automation and employee awareness training Continue Reading

Singapore firms unprepared for GDPR

An EY study reveals that only 10% of organisations in Singapore are ready to comply with Europe’s new data protection regime Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Cryptomining is top attack type, says Malwarebytes

Malicious cryptomining has been the top cyber criminal activity detected since September 2017, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Surveillance watchdog investigates security risks of GCHQ IT contractors

The investigatory powers commissioner is reviewing the security arrangements for IT contractors that have access to live computer systems at GCHQ holding highly sensitive records on the UK population Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Cyber criminals catching up with nation state attacks

The trickle-down effect of advanced “military-grade” tools is seeing the gap between cyber criminal and nation state attack capabilities closing, outpacing many organisations’ defence capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

2018 could be year of mobile malware, says McAfee 

Security firm announces several mobile industry partnerships as its latest mobile threat report shows mobile malware is becoming increasingly popular with cyber attackers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Is cyber security becoming a cost of doing business - to the detriment of our data?

Computer Weekly writes a lot about cyber security – it’s the easily most popular topic among our readers, and always rates as one of the top priorities in our annual survey of IT professionals. ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Avast discovers Tempting Cedar Android spyware campaign

Security researchers have uncovered a three-year-old Android spyware campaign spread through social media and targeting people in the Middle East Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Unprotected Kubernetes consoles expose firms to cryptojacking

A number of big companies have been targeted by crytojacking attacks, where cyber criminals hijack computing power to mine cryptocurrencies, but some have unprotected Kubernetes consoles in common Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK plans laws to protect company directors from ID theft

Legislation will make it easier for directors to remove their personal addresses from the company register Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Google calls out Microsoft for failing to fix reported flaw

Google’s Project Zero has gone public with a Windows 10 flaw that Microsoft claimed to have fixed in its February security update Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Nordics: Nordics CIOs’ priorities in 2018

A select group of CIOs and analysts in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden give their views on the top IT priorities in 2018. As in 2017, digital transformation will continue to be a buzzword. Also read how Sweden is tightening up its cyber security defences as part of a wider national security strategy, and how Nordic banks cannot afford to slow their digital transformations as PSD2 comes into force. Continue Reading

Email attacks and incident detection top security challenges

Email inboxes are the weakest link in security perimeters, and companies struggle with detecting security incidents quickly and accurately, a report finds Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hawaii missile alert: Why the wrong guy was fired

In January 2018, an employee at Hawaii’s emergency management agency sent out a false alarm of an imminent missile attack, and was subsequently fired – but perhaps poor system design is really to blame Continue Reading

By

• Jonny Corbett, Norman & Sons

UK organisations failing to take action against fraud

UK organisations are facing increasingly complex and costly incidents of fraud partly due to increasing cyber fraud, yet few are making use of the anti-fraud technologies available, a survey has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

People worried about data security in public sector, survey finds

Majority of people are concerned with the security of the data they share with public sector organisations, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Economic impact of cyber crime is significant and rising

Cyber attacks are becoming easier to carry out while defences remain inadequate, study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security leaders investing in automation and AI, study shows

Automation and artificial Intelligence are being used to defend against cyber threats, says report, but experts warn that these tools and technologies can be exploited by attackers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

AI a threat to cyber security, warns report

Artificial intelligence is being incorporated into a range of cyber security products, but the technology may also introduce new threats, a report warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Demand for cyber security skills outstrips internal supply, research finds

Businesses are increasingly looking for cyber security skills, but the gap between demand and supply is still prominent Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Businesses face unprecedented volume of cyber attacks

Organisations are facing the highest levels of cyber attacks in both number and sophistication as automated swarm attacks increase, a cyber threat report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Strategic cyber criminals likely to capitalise on GDPR

As cyber criminals concentrate on targeted, strategic, money-making attacks, they are likely to use GDPR fines as leverage to extort money from organisations, a report warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK local councils under huge cyber attack pressure

Investigation underlines importance of security automation and employee awareness training Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

University of Cambridge to host ethical hacking challenge

Cambridge is hosting its 2018 hacking challenge, aiming to captivate students and address the cyber security skills shortage Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Botnets shift focus to credential abuse

Cyber criminals are increasingly using automated attacks that make use of stolen credentials, a security threat report warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Getting a handle on mobile security in your enterprise

Everyone now has a mobile device at work, so how can enterprises ensure they are secure? Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

Lauri Love can stay in UK: prosecutors will not appeal extradition ruling

Crown Prosecution Service gives undertaking to Lauri Love that it will not appeal against a court decision not to extradite him to the US – but prosecutors are seeking leave to appeal over part of the court ruling on extradition procedure Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Google reveals Edge flaw after Microsoft fails to meet deadline

Google’s Project Zero has gone public with another Microsoft security vulnerability after the software giant failed to issue a fix within allotted time Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tech industry signs cyber security charter

Nine technology organisations have signed a cyber security charter aimed at raising the level of cyber security internationally Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

A third of Brits plan to exercise right to be forgotten

After the General Data Protection Regulation compliance deadline, a third of Britons polled say they plan to exercise their right to be forgotten, but few fully understand the GDPR and how it will affect them Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

US sentences two Russians for huge data breaches

The US has sentenced two Russian cyber criminals who targeted major payment processors, retailers and financial institutions around the world, as the US joins the UK in condemning Russia for the 2017 NotPetya attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Few organisations managing cyber risk, survey shows

Cyber risk management practices are not keeping up with rising cyber security concerns among senior executives around the world, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Briton jailed for two years for product testing for hackers

A Briton has been jailed for two years for running a product-testing service for hackers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

F-Secure warns against ‘evil maid’ attacks

Business people are being urged not to underestimate the importance of physical security for their laptops, which can be used as entry points by attackers if not adequately protected Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Atos investigates breach linked to Winter Olympics cyber attack

IT services firm Atos is investigating a potential security breach in response to reports that employee credentials were found in malware used to target the Winter Olympics Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK Foreign Office minister condemns Russia for NotPetya attacks

The UK has attributed to Russia the NotPetya malware that caused significant disruption globally, based on an assessment by the NCSC Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How AI will underpin cyber security in the next few years

Cyber security risks are growing in complexity and volume, but artificial intelligence techniques can help businesses track and fight them in real time Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Cyberthreat 2018 aimed at UK cyber security techies

Cyberthreat 2018 is aimed at growing the UK’s network of cyber defenders, filling a key gap in the UK cyber security conference calendar and bridging the public-private sector divide Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Telegram zero-day exploit is a warning

The discovery of an exploit of a zero-day vulnerability in the Telegram messaging app demonstrates that not all “secure” apps are automatically safe, security experts have warned Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Home Office fights terrorist content online with detection tool

The Home Office has partnered ASI Data Science to create a tool which automatically detects terrorist content on online platforms Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Industrial cyber security improving, but needs work

Cyber attacks on industrial and critical infrastructure systems are increasing in number and sophistication, but more attention is being paid to security, says Honeywell at it opens new Dubai facility Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The National Museum of Computing launches crowd-funding effort for Turing Bombe gallery

The National Museum of Computing is looking for funding to support its efforts to develop a gallery for a working model of the Turing-Welchman Bombe Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

CW ASEAN: European data law – be aware and prepare

Organisations across the ASEAN region will soon have to comply with another piece of data protec-tion legislation - the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will apply to any company that collects the personal data of Europeans. In this month's edition of CW ASEAN, we look at how ASEAN is gearing up for the GDPR, the current state of compliance and the law's impact on businesses. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW ANZ: Prepare for EU data law

Faced with the double whammy of complying with Australia’s upcoming data breach notification requirement and Europe’s new data protection regime, Australian firms are behind where they need to be in their compliance efforts. In this month’s edition of CW ANZ, find out how Australian organisations are getting ready for the GDPR, the challenges they are facing in meeting two new laws at the same time, as well as what they need to do to achieve their compliance goals. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Cyber security awareness top priority in financial sector

Information security chiefs in the financial sector say cyber security awareness needs to be a top priority Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

FS-ISAC enables safer financial data sharing with API

The global financial industry's body for cyber and physical threat intelligence analysis and sharing has published an API to facilitate safer sharing of consumer financial information Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Criminals hijack government sites to mine cryptocurrency used to hide wealth

Europol says criminals are hiding billions in cryptocurrencies, as thousands of government and other websites have reportedly been used to hijack computers to mine more Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

PyeongChang Winter Games hit by cyber attack

Although critical operations were not affected by the incident, event organisers at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics had to shut down servers and the official games website to prevent further damage Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Belgian police share Cryakl ransomware keys

The Belgian police have released free decryption keys for the Cryakl ransomware through the No More Ransom project Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Video: Lauri Love – why we need volunteers to fight malware

Lauri Love talks to Computer Weekly about plans to collaborate with others to tackle malware and use cryptocurrencies to create new ways for businesses to work Continue Reading

By

• Julia Gregory

Can we trust Intel Inside to mean secure computing?

Intel has just released an updated patch after its previous update failed spectacularly. Now its CEO is promising security assurance Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Europe in the firing line of evolving DDoS attacks

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region accounts for more than half the world’s distributed denial of service attacks, a report from F5 Labs reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Malaysian regulator and firm sued over data breach

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and a local company have been caught in a civil lawsuit over a massive data breach reported last year Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Norway’s government backs cyber defence mobilisation

Norway has accelerated plans to scale up its national security infrastructure against threats emanating from the cyber domain Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

More POS malware detected in the wild

The first new point of sale malware in many months is stealing data from the magnetic strips on payment cards, security researchers warn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Swisscom downplays data breach

Telecommunication provider Swisscom has downplayed a data breach affecting around 800,000 customers, but security experts warn of potential long-term risks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Benelux: Dutch IT expert on a mission to expose vulnerabilities

Dutch ethical hacker Victor Gevers took full-time leave from his IT job last year and used the time to hunt for vulnerabilities. Read about his mission to find vulnerabilities, report them responsibly and then, hopefully, get them fixed by the vulnerable parties involved. Also in this issue, read how Proximus, Belgium’s largest telecommunications operator, is leaning on Cloudify to support its adoption of network functions virtualisation, and how journalists showed that the email addresses of Dutch politicians are easy to spoof. Continue Reading

Teenager suspected of crippling Dutch banks with DDoS attacks

A large distributed denial of service attack on banks and other organisations in the Netherlands, first thought to emanate from Russia, is now thought to have been launched by a local teenager Continue Reading

By

• Tijs Hofmans

Third party cyber breach risk set to rise

Third party cyber security risk should always have been a priority, but this has never been more important than it is now in light of new technology risks and data protection regulations Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: How to evolve SecOps capacity

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Davis, (ISC)²

UK government orders review of online laws

The UK Law Commission is to review current legislation on offensive online communications to ensure they are up to date with technology Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Most NHS trusts have failed their cyber security assessments, NHS Digital admits

NHS Digital deputy CEO Rob Shaw told Public Accounts Committee all 200 trusts assessed for cyber security, both before and after the WannaCry attack, have failed their assessments Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UK leads international crackdown on Luminosity spyware

Law enforcement agencies shut down international support network for a hacking tool that allowed cyber criminals to gain remote control of victims’ computers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Take care of security basics before automating

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Greg Temm

Many UK firms ill-equipped to deal the cloud security risks

Many UK firms do not have the security tools, processes and skills required to ensure their cloud implementations are secure, a security researcher and advocate warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lauri Love plans to use ‘internet as a force for good’

Engineering student Lauri Love says he plans to help businesses fight cyber crime, after the court of appeal ruled that he can be tried in the UK for allegedly hacking US computer systems, rather than face extradition to the US Continue Reading

By

• Julia Gregory and Niels Ladefoged

Security Think Tank: How automation can reduce the load on the security operations team

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

NCSC shows how first year affected cyber attacks on the UK

Initiatives by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have detected and prevented millions of online commodity attacks, the agency’s first annual report shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Appeals court rules Lauri Love will not be extradited over US hacking charges

The lord chief justice, Lord Burnett, says 33-year-old engineering student Lauri Love will not be extradited to the US to face hacking charges, in a landmark legal decision, and the Crown Prosecution Service should bring proceedings against Love in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin & Julia Gregory

NHS WannaCry review highlights need for accountability and skills

Lessons-learned report on ransomware attack calls for local NHS organisations to put cyber security bosses on their boards and consider suspending IT access to staff who have not completed cyber security training Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad