News

Hackers and cybercrime prevention

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  UK plc failing on multiple cyber measures

  Government report shows 50% of businesses and 32% of charities reported a cyber attack or breach in the past 12 months and organisations across the UK are failing on multiple cyber measures

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Is a cyber arms control treaty out of reach?

  The world needs cyber arms control more than ever, but the challenges facing a multilateral agreement will be hard to surmount, according to researchers at Germany’s Digital Society Institute

• April 08, 2024 08 Apr'24

  UK vet network CVS hit by cyber attack

  Operations at UK-based veterinary network CVS have been disrupted by a cyber incident of an as-yet undisclosed nature

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  China ramps up use of AI misinformation

  Microsoft researchers have identified a growing pattern of AI-laced misinformation and political interference coming from Chinese threat actors

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  Europol offers law enforcement agencies data on Europe’s most threatening crime networks

  Europol has collected and analysed data from over 40 countries to identify 800 most threatening criminal networks operating in Europe in what it describes as a unique dataset for law enforcemnt

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  UKtech50 2024 – help us find the most influential people in UK IT

  Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year's list

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  How Oracle Red Bull Racing guards against cyber threats

  The F1 team is tapping managed security services, conducting penetration tests and improving security awareness among employees to fend off cyber threats such as phishing and ransomware

• April 04, 2024 04 Apr'24

  Changes needed for SOCs and CSIRTs, claims Dutch research institute

  Cyber security specialists need a game-changer to keep up with their adversaries, who increasingly use automation and AI for their attacks

• April 04, 2024 04 Apr'24

  Obituary: Professor Ross Anderson, pioneer in security engineering and campaigner

  Ross Anderson, a titan in the field of security engineering and campaigner for privacy and security, has passed away

• April 03, 2024 03 Apr'24

  RDP abused in over 90% of cyber attacks, Sophos finds

  Threat actors continue to see great success using simple, tried and tested methods, and many defenders are failing to do the basics

• April 03, 2024 03 Apr'24

  Ransomware kill switch may save 99% of files from encryption

  MDR specialist Adlumin says its new features will help customers stop in-progress ransomware attacks before they can cause significant damage

• April 01, 2024 01 Apr'24

  Open source alert over intentionally placed backdoor

  A backdoor in the open source XZ Utils data compression library could have led to widespread compromise across the Linux ecosystem - and the community is on the trail of a developer who seems to be behind it

• March 29, 2024 29 Mar'24

  Organisations getting better at spotting identity fraud

  As the barriers to committing identity fraud continue to drop, organisations should consider more sophisticated technical measures to successfully up their game, according to a report

• March 28, 2024 28 Mar'24

  Sellafield to be prosecuted over alleged cyber compliance failure

  Sellafield Ltd, the organisation responsible for cleaning up and decommissioning the UK's largest nuclear waste site, is to be prosecuted over alleged cyber security failings dating back to 2019

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  Ransomware gang leaks data stolen from Scottish NHS board

  Data stolen from an earlier attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway has been leaked by a ransomware gang that claims to be in possession of much more content

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  Cyber spies, not cyber criminals, behind most zero-day exploitation

  Analysis from Google has found that zero-day vulnerabilities are much more heavily exploited for espionage purposes than for financially motivated cyber crime

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  Qilin ransomware gang claims cyber attack on the Big Issue

  A ransomware attack on the systems of publisher and social enterprise Big Issue Group has been claimed by the Qilin gang

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange given temporary reprieve over extradition

  Court seeks assurances from the US that Assange will be given First Amendment Rights, will not prejudiced at trial because of his nationality, and will not be subject to the death penalty

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  NCSC reaffirms guidance for those at risk of Chinese state hacking

  As the UK and US governments announce sanctions and indictments of a Chinese state threat actor, the NCSC has reiterated its security advice for individuals at risk of being targeted for espionage purposes

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  US authorities charge seven over Chinese hacking

  The US Department of Justice has charged seven Chinese nationals linked to the APT31 threat actor that targeted politicians in the UK and US

• March 25, 2024 25 Mar'24

  Which? calls for government action on fake banking sites

  Amid high volumes of spoofed, fraudulent banking websites, Which? is calling for the government to implement new legal obligations for domain registrars

• March 25, 2024 25 Mar'24

  Chinese hackers responsible for two ‘malicious’ cyber campaigns against UK

  Government sanctions two Chinese nationals and a Chinese company identified as responsible for cyber campaigns against government officials and members of parliament

• March 25, 2024 25 Mar'24

  Britain’s democracy under threat from Chinese cyber attackers, government warns

  The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, is due to tell Parliament that Beijing is behind a hacking attack that obtained details of 40 million UK voters and has targeted parliamentarians who have criticised the regime

• March 22, 2024 22 Mar'24

  Court finds EncroChat hacked messages admissible as former footballer is jailed

  A judge in ‘lead’ EncroChat case found that messages obtained by police from the encrypted phone network can be lawfully used in evidence

• March 21, 2024 21 Mar'24

  NCSC guidance to help CEOs work through cyber incidents

  The NCSC has published in-depth guidance on how business leaders should respond to a cyber attack or data breach. Learn about some of the key steps you will need to follow

• March 20, 2024 20 Mar'24

  Ukrainians crack network that stole 100m email, social accounts

  Three members of an organised cyber criminal group who hacked and appropriated personal email and social media accounts face up to 15 years in prison

• March 20, 2024 20 Mar'24

  UK’s cyber resilience stagnates as more fall victim to attacks

  The government is calling on businesses to ramp up their cyber protections as study shows improvements to resilience are stagnating amid an ever-growing volume of attacks

• March 19, 2024 19 Mar'24

  Australia’s cyber security spending to grow 11.5% this year

  Highly publicised cyber attacks and growing regulatory obligations are keeping security and risk top of mind for Australian organisations this year, says Gartner

• March 17, 2024 17 Mar'24

  UK’s AI ambitions pointless while cyber security is still neglected

  The UK’s AI ambitions may be at considerable risk without stronger cyber defences across the private and public sectors

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  Microsoft AI-powered cyber service to go live in April

  After a year being previewed by beta customers, Microsoft’s much vaunted Copilot for Security service is about to go on general release, promising time savings and improved accuracy for hard-pressed security pros

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  British Library opens up over ransomware attack to help others

  The British Library has opted for full transparency after experiencing a devastating ransomware attack, publishing details of the intrusion, its response and the lessons it has learned

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  More DDoS attacks launched against APAC financial firms

  The financial sector in Asia-Pacific saw more DDoS attacks in 2023, but no notable impact was reported, according to a report by Akamai and FS-ISAC

• March 11, 2024 11 Mar'24

  Government not facing up to CNI cyber risks, committee warns

  The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy has accused the government of burying its head in the sand over the cyber threat to UK critical infrastructure

• March 11, 2024 11 Mar'24

  Dutch organisations vulnerable to deepfake fraud

  With the information many employees share on social media, Dutch companies are especially vulnerable to a new form of fraud

• March 06, 2024 06 Mar'24

  Cash-strapped cyber pros go rogue on the dark web

  Research conducted by CIISec has turned up worrying evidence of hard-up legitimate cyber professionals offering their services to the cyber criminal underground

• March 06, 2024 06 Mar'24

  Nation states buying hacking tools from underground Russian cyber forums

  State-sponsored hacking groups, posing as hacktivists, are using Russian cyber crime forums to stock up on cyber weapons, says Check Point Software’s threat analyst, Sergey Shykevich

• March 05, 2024 05 Mar'24

  Rapid7 hits out over botched vulnerability disclosure

  Software development firm JetBrains and security specialist Rapid7 fall out over the handling of a critical vulnerability disclosure, while customers are left rushing to patch

• March 05, 2024 05 Mar'24

  ALPHV/BlackCat gang vanishes amid ransomware ‘turmoil’

  Mystery surrounds the apparent disappearance of the ALPHV/BlackCat cyber crime gang amid reports that a prominent US victim paid a $22m ransom

• March 05, 2024 05 Mar'24

  American Express customers exposed through third-party breach

  US card giant warns customers that their personal details may have been exposed after a third party experienced a systems breach

• March 05, 2024 05 Mar'24

  Banning ransomware payments back on the agenda

  The idea of banning ransomware payments to cyber criminals is back on the agenda, with former NCSC chief Ciaran Martin arguing that tougher measures need to be taken

• March 04, 2024 04 Mar'24

  The Security Interviews: Cyber security is about managing risk effectively

  Effective cyber security must lead to cyber resilience – that is, the ability to anticipate, protect against, withstand and recover from any adverse condition, disruption or compromise, as Kyndryl’s security practice leader explains

• March 01, 2024 01 Mar'24

  Fancy Bear sniffs out Ubiquiti router users

  The authorities have warned users of Ubiquiti EdgeRouter products to take remedial action after a number of devices were hijacked into a malicious botnet by a Russian cyber espionage unit

• March 01, 2024 01 Mar'24

  APAC firms bullish on IT spending

  More than half of organisations plan to spend more on key areas such as cyber security, generative AI and cloud in a sign of growing optimism across the region

• February 29, 2024 29 Feb'24

  Okta doubles down on cyber in wake of high-profile breaches

  Okta launches Secure Identity Commitment to shore up its technology in the wake of a damaging breach and elevate best practice around identity

• February 28, 2024 28 Feb'24

  New version of ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware hits victims

  An updated version of the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware has been spotted in the wild amid a series of attacks on American healthcare providers, prompting a new alert from the authorities

• February 28, 2024 28 Feb'24

  75% of third-party breaches target software, IT supply chains

  Data drawn from SecurityScorecard’s telemetry reveals how supply chain breaches are becoming a weapon of choice for threat actors

• February 27, 2024 27 Feb'24

  Black Basta and Bl00dy ransomware gangs exploiting ConnectWise vulns

  More ransomware gangs have been observed exploiting two dangerous vulnerabilities in ConnectWise ScreenConnect software, prompting new warnings for users to get patching

• February 27, 2024 27 Feb'24

  VulnCheck bug listing to help track new threats quicker

  Exploit intelligence firm VulnCheck launches a proprietary Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue in hopes of improving end-user access to intel on emerging threats and reaching those that the likes of CISA do not

• February 27, 2024 27 Feb'24

  Majority of UK employees ‘willingly gamble’ with security

  Human-centric threats originating from employees continue to damage organisations both financially and reputationally, according to a report

• February 27, 2024 27 Feb'24

  Cozy Bear and other APTs changing tack as cloud adoption increases

  A change in APT tactics has been observed resulting from greater adoption of cloud-based services, according to the NCSC