IT security

Coronavirus: How Nominet fights back against malicious domains

Domain name registry has thwarted hundreds of attempts to register malicious .uk domain names during the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

EU warns no compromise on privacy as NHS clashes with tech firms on contact tracing

EU and UK regulators express data privacy concerns days after Silicon Valley giants announce collaboration on contact-tracing apps to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus Continue Reading

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• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Coronavirus: Security certification body puts exams online

Candidates for certification by the International Association of Privacy Professionals will now be able to sit their exams remotely Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Computer Weekly/TechTarget UK IT priorities 2020

The annual Computer Weekly/TechTarget UK IT Priorities 2020 survey of 210 UK IT professionals looks at where IT budgets are being spent Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Check Point sounds alarm over double extortion ransomware threat

Researchers say double extortion ransomware attacks are likely to increase in frequency, and warn organisations to be on guard Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DWP turns to Government Gateway to support Universal Credit claims

Existing users of HMRC’s digital identity system can use their credentials to apply for benefits, in a move designed to ease bottlenecks caused by Gov.uk Verify performance problems Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Coronavirus: India eases lockdown restrictions for IT service providers

Indian government allows IT services firms to bring half their staff back to delivery centres Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS Wales to get free security services during coronavirus pandemic

NHS Wales Informatics Services enlists Thales to help it face down security threats and let its teams focus on the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Cyber attacks on banks seen spiking, says Carbon Black

VMware’s Carbon Black observes a spike in cyber attacks on financial services organisations Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Indian IT sector takes hit

India’s IT market will see slower growth this year though opportunities abound in artificial intelligence and cyber security Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Coronavirus: ICO temporarily relaxes regulatory approach

The Information Commissioner’s Office sets out a revised approach to its regulatory duties during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Standard Chartered bans employees from Zoom

Standard Chartered is the first bank to have instructed its staff to refrain from using Zoom Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Do IT service providers need MSP cybersecurity insurance?

Today's fraught threat landscape puts MSPs and customers at risk. Purchasing liability insurance reassures subscribers while protecting providers in case of a malware incident. Continue Reading

By

• Esther Shein

Coronavirus: Researcher finds security vulnerability in Slack

Some common assumptions about the security of cloud-based messaging platform Slack may not be entirely accurate, says an Alien Labs researcher Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft patches 19 critical bugs in another heavy Patch Tuesday

The volume of vulnerabilities being uncovered by Microsoft remains high, with more than 100 fixes pushed out in April’s Patch Tuesday Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A legal perspective on data breaches and home working

Legal experts from Fieldfisher share guidance on how to deal with cyber attacks during the coronavirus crisis, and what the ICO expects in terms of notification Continue Reading

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• Sabba Mirza and Michael Brown

COVID-19 remote work security: 5 ways to boost cybersecurity

HR leaders and their teams have an important role to serve in enterprise information security. Here are five ways they can help mitigate cyberthreats and provide user education. Continue Reading

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• Kevin Beaver, Principle Logic, LLC

Australian firms soldier on amid Covid-19 outbreak

From the largest financial institutions to small companies, Aussie firms have been dialling up their use of technology tools to keep their businesses humming during the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

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• Stephen Withers

Apple and Netflix most imitated brands in phishing attacks

A new report highlights the brands which are being most frequently spoofed by cyber criminals in phishing attacks Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Zoom user credentials for sale on dark web

IntSight researchers say they have found a database containing thousands of Zoom usernames and passwords being sold on the dark web Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus puts brakes on 5G core deployments

Research firm identifies short- and long-term impacts that global pandemic will have on 5G core and edge networks Continue Reading

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• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

How Singapore’s Niometrics is changing network analytics

By extracting granular data and emphasising privacy protection, Niometrics’ network analytics technology is being put through its paces in a variety of use cases Continue Reading

ERP security issues with working remotely during COVID-19 outbreak

Keeping the organization's enterprise systems safe is everyone's job -- from top leadership on down. Now that the coronavirus has millions homebound, that's never been more important. Continue Reading

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• Kevin Beaver, Principle Logic, LLC

Coronavirus: Warning over surge in Zoom security incidents

Check Point researchers have observed a surge in suspicious Zoom domains as cyber criminals target popular remote working and collaboration tools Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Zoom restricted or banned at multiple organisations

Use of videoconferencing tool has been banned at Google and in parts of the German and US governments Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Middle East: A quarter of Middle East businesses have no women in IT

Over a quarter of businesses in the Middle East have no women in their IT departments, according to Computer Weekly’s Salary Survey, which has also revealed that 40% of Middle East-based IT professionals would change job for more money. Also in this issue, find out whether China’s public cloud provider, Alibaba, has what it takes to trouble the likes of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in the infrastructure-as-a-service market. Continue Reading

Revealed: Estonia targeted by Russia-linked disinformation deluge

Kremlin-linked threat actors are undermining the government of Estonia and its relationship with the European Union through a concerted disinformation campaign, with wider ramifications Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Multicloud storage 101: Pros, cons, pitfalls and strategies

Not putting all your eggs in one basket can be helpful to an enterprise’s resilience strategy. We look at multicloud storage and the benefits and pitfalls it brings Continue Reading

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• Rene Millman

Despite coronavirus, overall cyber crime volumes hold steady

The UK’s NCSC and the US’s CISA see little change in overall volumes of cyber crime in spite of the coronavirus crisis – for the time being Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian open source project to expand global reach

Data61’s open source seL4 microkernel project will be supported by a new foundation created under the auspices of the Linux Foundation Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Coronavirus: McAfee unearths dark web blood bank

Cyber criminals are selling fake goods and running scams on online marketplaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. Don’t be taken in Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus threats ramp up as more hospitals come under attack

The Covid-19 Cyber Threat Coalition finds the majority of security pros have been targeted by cyber criminals exploiting the coronavirus pandemic, and adds to warnings of increased activity targeting the health sector Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Judge refuses to delay Assange's extradition hearing over coronavirus pandemic

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser says extradition proceedings will go ahead against Julian Assange, after his lawyers argued that the coronavirus lockdown means they cannot prepare their defence Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Happy developers write secure code, report claims

DevOps specialist Sonatype claims to have found a direct correlation between satisfied developers and application security hygiene Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Criminals using Zoom installer to spread cryptominer

Videoconferencing application targeted to deliver cryptomining malware to unsuspecting victims Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Combatting Covid Fraud: both doorstep and on-line: clarifying the sources of guidance

The UK is apparently the number one target for covid-related on-line fraud but doorstep fraudsters are targeting those who do not go on-line with “testing” and “decontamination” services. Continue Reading

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• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

How APAC firms are coping with the Covid-19 outbreak

The air of change looms large in companies operating in the Asia-Pacific region, with some doing better than others in keeping the lights on amid the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Adapting IT to the new normal

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to four top IT leaders to find out how they are supporting their organisations through the coronavirus crisis. We look at the security best practices recommended by experts to ensure safe remote working for staff. And the CISO of Equifax explains why the firm is moving to public cloud. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Interview: Jamil Farshchi, CISO, Equifax

Equifax CISO Jamil Farshchi discusses public cloud and why it’s not something IT security professionals should be afraid of. Continue Reading

Coronavirus: How to implement safe and secure remote working

Find out what CIOs and CISOs need to know to enable their end-users to work remotely and stay secure during the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis, and learn how users can help themselves. Continue Reading

Two-factor authentication is broken: What comes next?

Two-factor authentication is seen by many as a robust authentication method, but is it really as impervious as it seems? Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

BA and Marriott get GDPR fine reprieve

Both British Airways and Marriott International have had their General Data Protection Regulation fines deferred until later in 2020 Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zero-day exploits increasingly commodified, say researchers

The exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities increasingly demonstrates access to cash, rather than skills Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Why and how cyber criminals exploit world events

In our globalised world, high-profile events such as Covid-19 have huge business impacts, some of which may be felt by CISOs. What responsibilities do security professionals have in such circumstances? Continue Reading

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• Paddy Francis

Interpol warns of more ransomware attacks against healthcare sector

Purple notice issued to alert police forces around the world of ransomware attacks against hospitals and other healthcare institutions Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Google data shows high interest in security and remote working

An analysis of the most Googled technology terms during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the scale of the cyber security challenge presented by the crisis Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Covid-19 apps pose threat to digital privacy on a global scale

Digital security firm Surfshark has reviewed a number of apps aimed at tackling the spread of coronavirus, and found that many pose a threat to people’s digital privacy Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

100,000 Community and Cyber Police volunteers to help handle the Covid aftermath

The proportion of special constables to full time police has fallen over the past 20 years from 16% in 1996 to 9% in 2019. The trend is distorted by the Metropolitan Police where the proportion ... Continue Reading

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• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

Coronavirus: What does the ‘new normal’ mean for how we work?

Examining the long-term impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic on the world of work, security, privacy and networks Continue Reading

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• Cate Pye, PA Consulting

JavaScript skimmers: An evolving and dangerous threat

Cyber attacks exploiting Magecart JavaScript skimmers are spiking during the coronavirus pandemic, and like biological viruses, they just keep evolving Continue Reading

By

• Fabian Libeau

Security Think Tank: Continuity planning doesn’t have to be complex

In our globalised world, high-profile events such as Covid-19 have huge business impacts, some of which may be felt by CISOs. What responsibilities do security professionals have in such circumstances? Continue Reading

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• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

Coronavirus: Magecart attacks on online retailers jump 20%

RiskIQ researchers have observed a sharp uptick in Magecart credit card attacks, driven by increased traffic to online retailers during the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

After Universal Credit delays, GDS's silence over Gov.uk Verify is embarrassing and shameful

In the past couple of weeks, nearly a million people have signed up for Universal Credit as a result of the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis. Never has the UK government’s move to a digital-first world ... Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Morrisons appeal success is cold comfort for enterprises

The success of Morrisons’ appeal against judgments that it should be held vicariously liable for an insider data breach will be welcomed by businesses, but may be of limited comfort to them Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Is Zoom safe and should security teams ban it?

Zoom’s rapid rise to prominence has highlighted a score of security problems with the service. Should CISOs try to steer their organisations away from it, or ban it outright? Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Three tips to maintain remote productivity

As the lockdown continues, businesses are having to make use of remote working technologies. We investigate Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Podcast: Covid-19, compliance risk, remote assessment and training

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about why organisations cannot drop their guard on compliance during the increased risks faced as a result of the coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Australian broadband providers team up to meet network demand

NBN Co and five retail service providers have formed a working group to manage congestion and take steps to address the surge in demand for broadband connectivity amid the Covid-19 outbreak Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

What we can learn from Marriott’s new data breach embarrassment

Marriott International has egg on its face once again following a second data breach in as many years, but there are encouraging signs in its response that suggest it is at least trying to learn from its experiences Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Morrisons not liable for 2014 data breach, says Supreme Court

Court allows supermarket chain’s appeal against judgments holding it liable for a 2014 insider data breach, saying previous rulings misunderstood the concept of vicarious liability Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Swedbank to rebuild anti-money laundering systems after damning report

Report finds that €36.7bn in transactions, all carrying a high risk for money laundering, were processed through the bank’s branch network in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Malaysia’s business continuity planning readiness a mixed bag

Larger Malaysian enterprises have BCP in place, but SMEs lag behind and will find it harder to weather the Covid-19 storm Continue Reading

By

• Edwin Yapp

Coronavirus: WHO, Rakuten collaborate on anti-disinformation chatbot

The World Health Organisation and Rakuten Viber have built an interactive, multi-language chatbot to try to get on top of the growing problem of disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CDN and cloud suppliers join routing security initiative

Akamai and Amazon Web Services are among a group of cloud and content delivery network providers to participate in a global initiative to address the security threats to internet routing systems Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Nigerian email attacks evolving into credible, dangerous threat

Palo Alto’s Unit 42 reports on Nigeria’s SilverTerrier cyber crime group, which is becoming a highly dangerous threat to businesses worldwide Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 53

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Alex Scroxton, CW’s security editor, joins Caroline Donnelly and Brian McKenna to talk about the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis, including chancellor Rishi Sunak’s package for the self-employed and how Southeast Asia’s approach has differed from ours. They also talk about using data to govern the public realm Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor
• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Marriott International hotel chain in second data breach

Marriott International notifies customers of a major data breach that unfolded earlier in 2020 – the second it has experienced in the past two years Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How IT leaders and their teams are supporting employees through the coronavirus crisis

We talk to four top IT chiefs across the UK to find out how their teams are supporting their organisations and staff to keep working through the Covid-19 outbreak Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Too late to protect online privacy, say Brits

Most UK consumers are concerned about data privacy, but think it’s too late to do much about it, according to a report Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top five compliance concerns for UK business in 2020

We look at the top five legal and regulatory compliance concerns for UK businesses in 2020. It’s a list that includes GDPR, the DPA, PECR, PCI-DSS and the CCPA Continue Reading

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• Stephen Pritchard

Coronavirus readiness: Three technology-led steps the NHS is taking

With the risk of the Covid-19 virus spreading, NHS Digital has needed to make rapid changes to its 111 service Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Houseparty denies hack as credential stuffing attacks spread

Social media service denies its service has been hacked, and is offering a million-dollar bounty to anybody who can prove otherwise Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why security validation matters

FireEye’s top executives in Asia-Pacific discuss the benefits of security validation and offer their take on the region’s cyber threat landscape Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Hackathon launched to help fight coronavirus pandemic

Virtual hackathon seeks to develop a suite of applications to help people during the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak through ethically built technology Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Coronavirus: Don’t fall for fake cures, warns UK government

Government urges people to be more vigilant about what they read and share online as it relaunches its Don’t Feed the Beast campaign to counter coronavirus disinformation Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian government unveils Covid-19 app

Federal government launches Coronavirus Australia app to keep Australians updated on the latest developments in its fight against the coronavirus outbreak Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Insurance firm Chubb may be latest Maze ransomware victim

Maze ransomware group claims to have stolen personal data from the systems of cyber security insurance firm Chubb Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Lorca calls on security scaleups to tackle coronavirus challenge

Lorca innovation programme has launched an open call for its next cohort of cyber security scaleups, with a timely focus on coronavirus challenges Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: What are the latest free cyber security offers?

We round up the latest free offers on cyber security products and services being made available during the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tupperware fixes hacked site, but questions remain over response

Kitchenware brand removes active digital credit card skimmer from its website and insists it takes security seriously despite ignoring repeated attempts to contact it Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is personal privacy more important than combatting Covid-19?

Concerns over personal privacy, of serious concern to the political activists who might be "picked off" by their opponents but not to the majority of the population, have come ahead of enthusiasm ... Continue Reading

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• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

Coronavirus: Be alert to rogue mobile apps exploiting outbreak

Well-meaning developers are beginning to offer medical apps to monitor coronavirus symptoms and provide information on the pandemic. Opportunists and cyber criminals are not far behind them Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Developed APAC states most exposed to cyber risks

Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have the highest exposure to cyber risks, but they are also the most prepared to deal with cyber attacks, study finds Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

7 supply chain management best practices in a COVID-19 world

Amid global disruptions due to coronavirus, businesses need to redo supply chain best practices immediately. Here are seven ways to get started down the right path. Continue Reading

By

• George Lawton

Kitchenware brand Tupperware is ignoring hacked website

Website has been hacked in a targeted cyber attack, and the dangerous vulnerability has not been addressed Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Almost half of UK businesses suffered a cyber attack in past year

Latest government statistics reveal the scale of the cyber security challenge facing UK plc, but reveals some cause for optimism Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australia inks digital economy pact with Singapore

Australia’s digital economy agreement with Singapore will pave the way for data transfers and other digital trade opportunities Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Huge queues for Universal Credit online applications due to coronavirus surge

Online queues in the tens of thousands are hindering emergency applications for Universal Credit, with the Gov.uk Verify identity verification system becoming a particular bottleneck Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Coronavirus: Contactless spending limit increased to fight pandemic

Banking and financial services trade body UK Finance to increase spending limit for contactless payments to £45 from the start of April Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fake antivirus site promises coronavirus protection, delivers trojan

Researchers at Malwarebytes have warned of an increasing volume of scam sites exploiting the Covid-19 coronavirus Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus and privacy – finding the middle ground

Data collection has a role to play in fighting the deadly Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, but governments need to be accountable for how it is used Continue Reading

By

• Eduardo Ustaran

Tekya auto-clicker malware exploits kids’ Android apps

Google has removed multiple apps for children that were found to contain Tekya auto-clicker malware Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Legacy AV defenceless against onslaught of evasive malware

More than two-thirds of malware detected by WatchGuard in the last three months of 2019 was able to evade signature-based antivirus products, rendering them effectively useless in most instances Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Singapore government to open source contact-tracing protocol

Singapore’s Government Technology Agency is contributing the source codes of the BlueTrace protocol that powers its contact-tracing app Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Is this Netflix-style thriller the future of security training?

Cyber awareness specialists at KnowBe4 reckon that bringing Netflix-style production values to corporate videos heralds a new approach to security training Continue Reading

The AWS bucket list: Keep your cloud secure

Misconfigured cloud installations risk billions of records being exposed, damaging organisations’ finances and reputations. Paying attention to securing AWS storage buckets is a simple matter Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

Coronavirus: Kaspersky, Bitdefender make products free to NHS

Kaspersky and Bitdefender have both made various products and services available free to healthcare customers as the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic intensifies Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Thousands of Netflix, Disney+ streaming accounts being stolen

Proofpoint has urged users of streaming services to be alert to cyber criminals hijacking their accounts Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why zero trust may not be all it’s cracked up to be

While they are discussed ad nauseam in the security industry, zero-trust architectures may not be all they’re cracked up to be, according to analyst Sam Bocetta Continue Reading

By

• Sam Bocetta

Interview: Jamil Farshchi, CISO, Equifax

Equifax CISO Jamil Farshchi discusses public cloud and why it’s not something IT security professionals should be afraid of Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA