Security policy and user awareness

Cyber firms need to centre their own resilience

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panel considers incident response in the wake of the July CrowdStrike incident, sharing their views on what CrowdStrike got wrong, what it did right, and next steps Continue Reading

By

• Niel Harper

Check Point secured for annual Security Serious cyber awards

The annual Security Serious Unsung Heroes awards, recognising the champions of the UK cyber security industry, are back once again, with a new headline sponsor joining the party Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Iranian APT caught acting as access broker for ransomware crews

Members of Iran-backed Pioneer Kitten APT appear to be trying to supplement their pay packets by helping Russian-speaking ransomware gangs to access their victims in exchange for a cut of the profits Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber law reform should be top of Labour's policy list

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Craig Watt

A coherent Labour cyber strategy depends on consistency

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Aled Lloyd Owen

Iranian APT Peach Sandstorm teases new Tickler malware

Peach Sandstorm, an Iranian state threat actor, has developed a dangerous new malware strain that forms a key element of a rapidly evolving attack sequence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Global cyber spend to rise 15% in 2025, pushed along by AI

Security spending will increase at pace in 2025, with artificial intelligence, cloud and consultancy services all pushing outlay to new highs, according to Gartner Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Extending zero-trust principles to endpoints

By combining zero-trust principles with other security strategies and continuously monitoring and improving their security posture, organisations can effectively mitigate risks and protect their resources, says Gartner's Nikul Patel Continue Reading

By

• Nikul Patel

The US courts may have thrown a wrench into cyber regulation

A recent decision by the US Supreme Court to overrule the longstanding Chevron Deference has serious implications for global cyber security regulation Continue Reading

By

• Brian Arnold

Public education on security must be a top priority for Labour

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

New Qilin tactics a ‘bonus multiplier’ for ransomware chaos

Sophos X-Ops caught the Qilin ransomware gang stealing credentials stored by victims' employees in Google Chrome, heralding further cyber attacks and breaches down the line. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pakistani national arrested over Southport ‘cyber terrorism’

Authorities in Pakistan have arrested a man on suspicion of cyber terrorism over his role in the spread of online misinformation in the wake of the Southport knife attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

From manifesto to material: What No. 10 needs to make reality

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Paul Lewis, Nominet

Phishing links becoming bigger threat than email attachments

Phishing techniques are evolving away from malicious email attachments, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Challenges of deploying PQC globally

Quantum computers will eventually be powerful and reliable enough to crack strong encryption. PQC is the answer, but it could take years to deploy Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How might the UK's cyber landscape change under Labour?

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Dhairya Mehta and Cate Pye

Thousands of NetSuite customers accidentally exposing their data

Misconfigured permissions across live websites are leaving thousands of NetSuite users open to having their valuable customer data stolen, researchers say Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google's cookie conundrum: What comes next?

Google's revised approach to third-party cookies shouldn't come as a surprise, and may also be welcome Continue Reading

By

• Christian Ward

With the right tools and strategy, public cloud should be safe to use

Despite the complexity and evolving nature of threats, with the right strategy, tools, and constant vigilance, businesses can safely and securely leverage public cloud services Continue Reading

By

• Jason Lau

August Patch Tuesday proves busy with six zero-days to fix

Microsoft patches six actively exploited zero-days among over 100 issues during its regular monthly update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Labour's first cyber priority must be the NHS

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Adam Button

Cyberfirst needs more than a change of gear

Instead of establishing a new organisation, Cyberfirst should be restructured to work locally and nationally through the Cyber Security Council and existing mainstream on-line safety, safeguarding ... Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

Deep dive into quantum-resistant cryptography for email security

Quantum computers have the potential to crack many of the encryption methods we currently rely on to keep our digital communications safe. Quantum-resistant cryptography may be the answer Continue Reading

By

• Isla Sibanda

Royal ransomware crew puts on a BlackSuit in rebrand

The Royal ransomware gang is back, with a new name and refreshed capabilities, including an apparently unique ‘partial encryption’ gambit, according to CISA Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US lawmakers seek to brand ransomware gangs as terrorists

Proposals from legislators in Washington DC could shake up the global ransomware ecosystem and give law enforcement sweeping new powers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber security adoption is vital to Scotland’s space race

Scotland has a golden opportunity to capitalise on space technology to make itself a global leader, but to maximise its potential in the new space race, more attention must be paid to cyber security risk Continue Reading

By

• David Ferguson

Advanced faces fine over LockBit attack that crippled NHS 111

Advanced Software faces a multimillion pound fine for a series of failings which directly led to a 2022 LockBit ransomware attack that disrupted NHS and social care services across the UK Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

2024 seeing more CVEs than ever before, but few are weaponised

The number of disclosed CVEs soared by 30% in the first seven-and-a-half months of the year, but a tiny fraction of these have been exploited by threat actors, a reminder of the importance of focused security strategies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chinese cyber attack sparks alert over six-year-old MS vuln

After a proof-of-concept for a six-year-old Microsoft vulnerability emerged in a Chinese APT attack chain, defenders should be on the look-out for exploitation of CVE-2018-0824 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

World’s largest companies at near-universal risk of supply chain breach

Data from SecurityScorecard once again focuses on the interconnected nature of business supply chains and the risk posed to operational resilience by unexpected IT problems and cyber threats Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia’s luxury car phish continues to prove effective

Government organisations and other bodies operating in Ukraine continue to be targeted by a relatively unsophisticated phishing campaign that has proven so effective for Russia’s cyber spooks that there are now multiple agencies involved Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber lessons, and priorities for the UK's new government

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Ameet Jugnauth and Mark Pearce

Labour should focus on talent to improve UK's cyber posture

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Elliott Wilkes

Police hunt scammers after takedown of Russian Coms fraud platform

The National Crime Agency has arrested four people after taking down a phone number spoofing platform used by criminals to defraud hundreds of thousands of people in the UK with more arrests to follow Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Is it time to refresh the UK's cyber strategy?

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Jon Carpenter

Banks, telcos call for more data sharing to fight fraud

A Which?-led coalition of banks and telecoms operators is calling on the UK's new government to take the lead on enabling data sharing to help fight digital fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

When critical cyber response becomes second nature

When alerts and headlines blare out warnings of critical vulnerabilities in widely-used software, the cyber security community needs to adopt a more decisive and clear-cut approach, says Huntress' Chris Henderson Continue Reading

By

• Chris Henderson, Huntress

Campaigners call for evidence to reform UK cyber laws

The CyberUp Campaign for reform of the 1990 Computer Misuse Act launches an industry survey inviting cyber experts to share their views on how the outdated law hinders legitimate work Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What is cyber attribution?

Cyber attribution is the process of tracking and identifying the perpetrator of a cyberattack or other cyber operation. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

CISO mentoring – who to turn to when the worst happens

Those who get the role of a CISO may have overcome some professional hurdles, but are they ready to face what comes as part of the job? And who do they ask for advice? We look at the mentoring dilemma Continue Reading

By

• Dan Raywood

Scam CrowdStrike domains growing in volume

Hundreds of malicious domains exploiting CrowdStrike’s branding are appearing all over the web in the wake of the 19 July outage. Experts from Akamai share some noteworthy examples, along with guidance on how to avoid getting caught out Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CrowdStrike says most Falcon sensors now up and running

The vast majority of CrowdStrike Falcon sensors affected by a coding error have now been recovered, with a final resolution expected this week Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mastering data privacy in the age of AI

AI continues to revolutionise how organisations operate, using vast amounts of personal data to make smart, informed decisions. However, this incredible potential comes with concerns about data privacy. DQM GRC's Mark James explores the issues. Continue Reading

By

• Mark James

Cyber crisis? How good PR can save your brand

Cyber attacks and data breaches can happen to anybody and often bring reputational damage and a loss of customer trust. How organisations publicly respond to such incidents can make or break them, and the importance of a good PR strategy cannot be underestimated Continue Reading

By

• Ed Coram-James

Cloud security challenges not just technological

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

By

• Temi Akinlade

North Korean cyber APT targeting nuclear secrets

Mandiant has upgraded the North Korean threat actor known as Andariel to APT status and warned of coordinated efforts to steal western military IP, including nuclear secrets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mimecast to buy insider threat specialist Code42

Mimecast is to buy fellow human-centred risk experts Code42 for an undisclosed sum to take advantage of its insider threat and data loss protection specialisms Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Innovations to power secure-by-design development

Secure Code Warrior unveils technology designed to help CISOs and AppSec teams ensure their projects remain safe and free of coding errors and vulnerabilities – a big issue following the CrowdStrike incident Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chrome cookies reprieved amid Google Privacy Sandbox changes

Google abruptly changes tack on third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser, cancelling plans to deprecate them in favour of an unspecified ‘new experience’ for users Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCA cracks digitalstress DDoS-for-hire operation

The UK authorities have taken down a major component of the multinational DDoS cyber attack-for-hire ecosystem, hacking into the digitalstress.su service and exfiltrating data on its users, who now face arrest Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC: Beware of criminal CrowdStrike opportunists

Financially motivated cyber criminals are already conducting opportunistic attacks on organisations that leverage the CrowdStrike incident, and more targeted attacks are sure to follow Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What is employee monitoring?

Employee monitoring is when businesses monitor employees to improve productivity and protect corporate resources. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna

Growth in nude image sharing heightens cyber abuse risk

The normalisation of sharing self-created intimate content with others is putting great numbers of people at risk of online abuse, says Kaspersky Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK Cyber Bill teases mandatory ransomware reporting

In the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill introduced in the King's Speech, the UK's new government pledges to give regulators more teeth to ensure compliance with security best practice and to mandate incident reporting Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hackney Council reprimanded over 2020 ransomware attack

The London Borough of Hackney has been reprimanded by the ICO over a series of failures that led to a devastating cyber attack, but at the same time, the regulator praised the local authority for its response and commitment to making improvements Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Strategic Defence Review must emphasise cyber security, says industry

Cyber security leaders say the new government's Strategic Defence Review needs to put digital security front and centre Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AT&T loses ‘nearly all’ phone records in Snowflake breach

Hackers have stolen records of virtually every call made by AT&T's customers during a six-month period in 2022, after compromising the US telco's Snowflake data environment Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Public awareness of ID security grows, but big obstacles remain

Consumers are improving their awareness of the issues around digital identity security, but there are still some big issues preventing many from doing better, according to an Okta report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch research firm TNO pictures the SOC of the future

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

By

• Kim Loohius

Inside Israel’s cyber security operations

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

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Hyper-V zero-day stands out on a busy Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has fixed almost 140 vulnerabilities in its latest monthly update, with a Hyper-V zero-day singled out for urgent attention Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chinese spies target vulnerable home office kit to run cyber attacks

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

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

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Synnovis attack highlights degraded, outdated state of NHS IT

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Safeguarding democracy from cyber threat peril  

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

By

•  Barry O’Connell

NCA’s Operation Morpheus targets illicit Cobalt Strike use

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber Essentials at 10: Success or failure?

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

By

• Adam Pilton

Security Think Tank: Securing today's ubiquitous cloud environment

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

By

• Kashil JagmohanSingh

How Recorded Future is operationalising threat intelligence

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

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Sellafield whistleblower ordered to pay costs after email tampering claims

A former consultant at Sellafield has been ordered to pay costs for having ‘acted unreasonably’ in claiming the nuclear facility tampered with metadata in letters used against her in court Continue Reading

By

• Tommy Greene

Qilin ransomware gang publishes stolen NHS data online

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

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

An industry-wide agreement is needed to identify AI-generated content

With the UK general election coming on July 4th, there is very real concern that this election and others around the world are being influenced by artificial intelligence-powered (AI) content ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Cloud security: Finding the right provider to protect your data

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

By

• Stephen McDermid

Black Basta ransomware crew may be exploiting Microsoft zero-day

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Data leakage in the cloud – can data truly be safe in the cloud?

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

By

• Scott Swalling

How to ensure public cloud services are used safely and securely

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

By

• Beji Jacob

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

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

True cloud security requires in-depth understanding

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

By

• Elliott Wilkes

Pure Storage hit by Snowflake credential hackers

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

More than 160 Snowflake customers hit in targeted data theft spree

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DDoS gang threatens to disrupt European elections

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sophos uncovers Chinese state-sponsored campaign in Southeast Asia

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

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

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

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

OAIC files civil penalty action against Medibank

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

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: The cloud just got more complicated

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

By

• Rob Dartnall, SecAlliance

Building a more secure, and sustainable, open source ecosystem

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

By

• Chad Whitacre

Russia used fake AI Tom Cruise in Olympic disinformation campaign

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

97 FTSE 100 firms exposed to supply chain breaches

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Proofpoint exposes AFF scammers’ piano gambit

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Organisations value digital trust, but aren’t working at it

Three quarters of organisations believe digital trust is relevant to their businesses, yet clear gaps in strategies still seem to persist Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How to avoid joining the Dead Java Code Society

Unused or dead Java code is bogging down software engineers and developers, causing weird dependencies and security risks. Eric Costlow of Azul shares some advice on how to avoid becoming a member of a rather unpleasant club Continue Reading

By

• Eric Costlow

Executive Interview: Why Dell wants to be your one-stop AI shop

At Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas, artificial intelligence was the talk of the town as Dell staked out an all-encompassing strategy ahead of an anticipated goldrush. Dell’s Nick Brackney explains why the tech giant believes it's onto a winner Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Northern Ireland police face £750,000 fine after data protection blunder put lives at risks

Information commissioner John Edwards uses discretion to reduce proposed fine from £5.6m to £750,000 Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Rockwell urges users to disconnect ICS equipment

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Parliamentary committee criticises big tech response to election threats

Parliamentary committee says tech companies ‘regurgitated publicly available content’ and failed to address questions raised by MPs and peers Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

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

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why the UK needs to fix its broken IT security market

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

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

GCHQ to protect politicians and election candidates from cyber attacks

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

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Cyber Safety Force wants to change conversation around risk

A consortium to help cyber pros better manage risk has launched, with ambitious goals to change the nature of the conversation from cyber security to cyber safety Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Critical SharePoint, Qakbot-linked flaws focus of May Patch Tuesday

A critical SharePoint vulnerability warrants attention this month, but it is another flaw that seems to be linked to the infamous Qakbot malware that is drawing attention Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor