News

Hackers and cybercrime prevention

• February 28, 2019 28 Feb'19

  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

• February 27, 2019 27 Feb'19

  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

• February 27, 2019 27 Feb'19

  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

• February 27, 2019 27 Feb'19

  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

• February 26, 2019 26 Feb'19

  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

• February 26, 2019 26 Feb'19

  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

• February 25, 2019 25 Feb'19

  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

• February 25, 2019 25 Feb'19

  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

• February 25, 2019 25 Feb'19

  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

• February 22, 2019 22 Feb'19

  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

• February 22, 2019 22 Feb'19

  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

• February 22, 2019 22 Feb'19

  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

• February 21, 2019 21 Feb'19

  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

• February 21, 2019 21 Feb'19

  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

• February 21, 2019 21 Feb'19

  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

• February 21, 2019 21 Feb'19

  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

• February 21, 2019 21 Feb'19

  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

• February 20, 2019 20 Feb'19

  Huawei faces battle to win Nordic trust

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

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  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

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  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

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  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

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  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

• February 19, 2019 19 Feb'19

  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

• February 15, 2019 15 Feb'19

  CISOs under increasing pressure, study shows

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

• February 15, 2019 15 Feb'19

  (ISC)² invests in professional development of security workforce

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

• February 12, 2019 12 Feb'19

  Telegram bot gets users hooked

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

• February 12, 2019 12 Feb'19

  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

• February 12, 2019 12 Feb'19

  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

• February 11, 2019 11 Feb'19

  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

• February 07, 2019 07 Feb'19

  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

• February 04, 2019 04 Feb'19

  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

• February 01, 2019 01 Feb'19

  Orange acquires UK’s SecureData

  The Orange telecommunications group is to acquire UK cyber security firm SecureData to strengthen its leadership position in Europe in this sector

• February 01, 2019 01 Feb'19

  Innocent people arrested following surveillance blunders, IPCO reveals

  Interception of communications commissioner Adrian Fulford warns of “grave” repercussions for people wrongly identified as suspects due to errors made when government bodies access email, phone and telephone data

• February 01, 2019 01 Feb'19

  New stolen credentials cache puts spotlight on authentication

  The discovery of billions more stolen usernames and passwords in Collections #2 to #5 have prompted fresh calls for the implementation of better authentication methods across industry

• January 30, 2019 30 Jan'19

  YouTuber impersonation scam not new, say researchers

  Scam that tricked users into clicking on phishing links has affected tens of thousands of victims and has been active for several years, say security researchers

• January 30, 2019 30 Jan'19

  Unconfigured IoT is a security risk, warns researcher

  Internet of things researcher says unconfigured internet-connected devices are a largely unrecognised cyber security risk to businesses and consumers, and welcomes the increased likelihood of UK IoT legislation

• January 30, 2019 30 Jan'19

  How traffic scrubbing can guard against DDoS attacks

  Although most scrubbing services can help fend off distributed denial of service attacks, a more comprehensive mitigation strategy is required to remain unscathed

• January 29, 2019 29 Jan'19

  UK police target hundreds of DDoS attackers

  National Crime Agency is investigating hundreds of suspected users of a distributed denial of service-for-hire site that was taken down by an international law enforcement operation

• January 29, 2019 29 Jan'19

  New tech putting sensitive data at risk, report confirms

  Deployments of new technologies are putting sensitive corporate data at risk because organisations are struggling to secure these new IT environments, a report confirms

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  Personal records of HIV-positive individuals in Singapore leaked online

  The personal information of 14,200 people with the human immunodeficiency virus was leaked by an American who lived in Singapore

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  Security alert for vulnerabilities in Siemens PLCs

  Industries that use Siemens Simatic controllers to automate manufacturing processes have been urged to update software without delay

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  Data protection practices still poor, survey shows

  Despite concerns over privacy and data protection and a greater understanding of best security practices, individuals and businesses are still falling short, a survey reveals

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  Government to pump £70m into ‘designing out’ cyber threats

  Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund cash to be used for designing and developing more secure hardware in a bid to eradicate cyber threats

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  DCMS funding fuels cyber diversity drive

  The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is investing in four new projects to drive the number of diverse candidates considered for cyber careers

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  UK cyber security agency investigates DNS hijacking

  NCSC is probing the large-scale DNS hijacking campaign that has reportedly affected government and commercial organisations worldwide, and has issued defence advice

• January 25, 2019 25 Jan'19

  Vodafone suspends use of Huawei hardware

  Vodafone’s UK CEO has said the operator will ‘pause’ its use of Huawei hardware for the foreseeable future

• January 25, 2019 25 Jan'19

  Budding UK cyber strategists gear up for national competition 

  Teams of UK university students are preparing to compete for the second time in analysing the threat of a simulated cyber attack to develop policies and strategies

• January 24, 2019 24 Jan'19

  Poor practices expose 24 million financial records

  Failure to maintain appropriate security controls has again led to the exposure of millions of sensitive data records, this time from the banking world

• January 24, 2019 24 Jan'19

  IoT application vulnerabilities leave devices open to attack

  Barracuda Networks calls for internet of things devices to be subject to regular security review after researchers detail the application vulnerabilities of an internet-connected security camera

• January 24, 2019 24 Jan'19

  Crime stats show switch in focus by cyber criminals

  The latest crime statistics suggest that cyber criminals are turning their attention to organisations and social engineering attacks as they become more sophisticated

• January 24, 2019 24 Jan'19

  Business failing to see strategic value of cyber security

  UK businesses are failing to get value out of cyber security because they fail to see its strategic importance and often have a negative attitude towards security professionals, a study has revealed

• January 23, 2019 23 Jan'19

  MPs challenge Huawei over spying allegations

  The chair of the cross-bench Science and Technology Committee has written to Huawei seeking answers over its activities in the UK

• January 23, 2019 23 Jan'19

  Time to deploy strong authentication, says Fido

  The time has come for organisations to deploy cryptographically backed strong authentication, according to the Fido Alliance, which seeks to eliminate the world’s dependence on password-based security

• January 23, 2019 23 Jan'19

  US issues emergency directive to halt DNS hijacking

  US government agencies have been given 10 days to complete a four-step action plan to stop DNS hijacking attacks

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  IBM mobile cyber range starts European tour in London

  IBM’s mobile cyber range is kicking of a tour in London to raise awareness around the need for tried and tested cyber attack responses among organisations in Europe

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  Young Dutch cyber criminals get re-education rather than jail time

  Young hackers in the Netherlands are being rehabilitated through punishments that educate rather than incarcerate

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  Ransomware in decline, report confirms

  The trend of cryptomining replacing ransomware as the most popular money-generating activity by cyber attackers appears to be confirmed by malware stats for the past year

• January 22, 2019 22 Jan'19

  London cyber innovation centre expands global ties

  London innovation centre Plexal has announced international partnerships aimed at boosting global cyber security cooperation

• January 21, 2019 21 Jan'19

  Name and shame firms with poor cyber security, government told

  The government should name and shame companies whose cyber security measures fail to protect consumers’ data and firms should implement Active Cyber Defence, an academic report urges

• January 21, 2019 21 Jan'19

  Public procurement key to cyber security

  Using public procurement as a means of boosting cyber security is the top recommendation for 2019, according to a report based on expert views

• January 18, 2019 18 Jan'19

  Five issues for SMEs to consider when adopting encryption

  Encryption is still considered difficult to deploy and use as a data protection method, especially by small businesses, but considering five key factors can make adoption easier, says Becrypt

• January 17, 2019 17 Jan'19

  Breach of nearly 2.7 billion records underlines password flaws

  Potentially the biggest personal data breach to date from thousands of sources, some possibly breached as far back as 2008, illustrates the deeply flawed nature of password-based authentication, say industry commentators

• January 17, 2019 17 Jan'19

  Threat intelligence boosts security training

  Security professionals in training can now benefit from real-time threat intelligence data, thanks to a partnership between Digital Shadows and Immersive Labs

• January 17, 2019 17 Jan'19

  CenturyLink opens Singapore SOC amid security services boom

  US telco’s second Asia-Pacific security operations centre in Singapore is one of eight globally as it bids to carve a slice of the security services market

• January 16, 2019 16 Jan'19

  New Zealand faces more state-sponsored attacks

  Nearly four in 10 cyber security incidents recorded by the National Cyber Security Centre were the work of state-sponsored threat actors

• January 16, 2019 16 Jan'19

  Researchers discover new Magecart group

  Security researchers have uncovered a sub-group of the Magecart hacking group, highlighting the wider risks of web-based supply chain attacks

• January 15, 2019 15 Jan'19

  Millions of industrial remote controllers open to attack

  Millions of industrial remote controllers are open to cyber attack because of vulnerabilities in the radio frequency technology used, a study has revealed

• January 15, 2019 15 Jan'19

  Businesses fail to apply encryption technology effectively

  Most businesses are not applying common encryption tools effectively to contain the fallout and costs of data breaches, research shows

• January 15, 2019 15 Jan'19

  Less than half of firms able to detect IoT breaches, study shows

  UK firms have one of the lowest internet-of-things device breach detection capabilities in Europe, a study reveals

• January 15, 2019 15 Jan'19

  SingHealth and IT supplier fined S$1m for data breach

  Singapore’s data protection commission considered the fact that both SingHealth and its IT supplier fell prey to sophisticated threat actors, among other factors, when meting out the fine

• January 14, 2019 14 Jan'19

  Top UK hacker-for-hire jailed

  Notorious British hacker-for-hire jailed for cyber attacks on a Liberian telco after an international criminal justice operation

• January 11, 2019 11 Jan'19

  AI application overlooked in cyber security research

  Despite the proliferation of cyber security products and services claiming to be driven by artificial intelligence, the application of the technology is being overlooked by research, a study shows

• January 10, 2019 10 Jan'19

  UK firms say £6.6bn annual security testing cost too high

  Avord launches platform to reduce the multibillion-pound annual cyber security testing cost that most UK firms say is too high

• January 10, 2019 10 Jan'19

  Germany races to boost cyber defences after breach

  Germany is scrambling to improve its cyber defences before the European parliamentary elections after a student leaked politicians’ personal data

• January 09, 2019 09 Jan'19

  2FA bypass tool highlights top business security vulnerabilities

  CEOs are the most likely target of two-factor authentication phishing bypasses, demonstrated by a security researcher’s proof-of-concept attack

• January 09, 2019 09 Jan'19

  FireEye gears up email security for emerging threats

  Email continues to be a top means of initiating cyber attacks with new detection bypass techniques and executive impersonation capabilities continually emerging, research shows

• January 09, 2019 09 Jan'19

  NHS Digital chief information security officer resigns

  Robert Coles, who joined NHS Digital as its chief information and security officer in October 2018, is stepping down from the role for personal reasons

• January 08, 2019 08 Jan'19

  Second Lorca cohort to focus on supply chain security

  The second cohort of companies to benefit from the new London cyber innovation centre will focus on user-centric security and securing supply chains

• January 08, 2019 08 Jan'19

  Protego Labs launches serverless app security tool

  Security professionals and developers now have a way to assess the security of their serverless applications with a new open source testing tool donated to Owasp

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  Boards need to be active partners in cyber defence

  Board members must be active governance partners in collaborative cyber defence, says US regional information sharing and analysis organisation

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  BlackBerry licenses security tech to IoT device makers

  BlackBerry is to license its secure software development technology to the makers of internet-connected devices to boost IoT security

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  UK contactless card fraud surges

  Fraudsters stole £1.18m from contactless users in 2018, with the average theft size also increasing

• January 04, 2019 04 Jan'19

  Modern IT underlines need for zero-trust security

  The increasing complexity of supply chains and interconnectivity of IT systems means the attack surface is widening and security has to evolve accordingly, warns British computer scientist

• January 04, 2019 04 Jan'19

  Data breaches affected more than a billion people in 2018

  The personal information of more than a billion people was compromised in 2018 as companies holding the data failed to keep it safe

• January 04, 2019 04 Jan'19

  German politicians’ data leak shows need for global action

  Hacked data includes contacts’ email addresses, private chats, mobile numbers, photographs and credit card details, which were published on Twitter

• January 04, 2019 04 Jan'19

  Phishing attacks hidden by custom fonts

  Security researchers have uncovered a new way in which phishing attacks are evading detection.

• January 03, 2019 03 Jan'19

  IT regulators and practitioners need common language

  There needs to be greater understanding between lawmakers and technologists to ensure regulations do not have unintended consequences, says a US computer security researcher and bug bounty pioneer

• January 03, 2019 03 Jan'19

  Fortinet to lead cyber security discussion at WEF annual summit

  The head of cyber security firm Fortinet has been named as a discussion leader at the upcoming World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland

• January 02, 2019 02 Jan'19

  Kaspersky Lab champions gender equality and digital child safety

  Kaspersky Lab report highlights gender equality in the technology industry and child education about digital security

• December 28, 2018 28 Dec'18

  Top 10 stories on national security in 2018

  From Russian disinformation, state surveillance, and police stop and seizure powers, to Facebook and WikiLeaks

• December 24, 2018 24 Dec'18

  Top 10 IT security stories of 2018

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 IT security stories of 2018

• December 23, 2018 23 Dec'18

  'Serious' Twitter flaw allows hackers to post on other people's accounts

  A vulnerability in Twitter allows hackers to send tweets, private messages, post images or videos, and turn off security features, says British security researcher

• December 21, 2018 21 Dec'18

  Government announces new plans to develop cyber talent

  The government has announced plans for a Cyber Security Council to form a strategy for developing future cyber talent

• December 21, 2018 21 Dec'18

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2018

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 cyber crime stories of 2018

• December 20, 2018 20 Dec'18

  Marriott data breach losses could be over half a billion dollars

  Direct losses related to a huge data breach at US hotel group could reach $600m

• December 19, 2018 19 Dec'18

  Top 10 Australia IT stories of 2018

  Australia continues to cement its position as a leader in mastering and deploying advanced information and communications technology across a large segment of its economy

• December 19, 2018 19 Dec'18

  Lauri Love battles police for return of computers as NCA confirms live investigation

  The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirms there is a live investigation into Lauri Love in the UK, as Love brings legal action against UK police for the return of seized computer equipment

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  APAC cyber security landscape to be more tumultuous in 2019

  Amid growing cyber threats, the Asia-Pacific cyber security landscape will not get any rosier in 2019 unless organisations start shoring up their cyber hygiene

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Mobile security needs a rethink for the 5G era

  A report released through the government’s 5G Testbeds and Trials programme has recommended the UK rethink its mobile security strategy

• December 18, 2018 18 Dec'18

  Broadband coverage improved through 2018, says Ofcom

  Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report reveals that the number of people who cannot receive a 10Mbps broadband connection has halved