News

Hackers and cybercrime prevention

• February 10, 2016 10 Feb'16

  London Mayoral candidates go head-to-head on technology policy

  From abolishing tuition fees for STEM subjects to recognising broadband as a “core utility” and using the tech sector to prevent terrorist attacks, the five London mayoral candidates set out their policies for the tech industry

• February 10, 2016 10 Feb'16

  Obama's cyber security budget increase not enough, say critics

  US president proposes increasing the country’s cyber security budget by 35% to $19bn, but security experts suggest more is needed

• February 09, 2016 09 Feb'16

  Survey confirms cyber criminal activity by UK teens

  UK survey highlights the importance of understanding the online behaviour of young people to prevent them being drawn into cyber crime

• February 09, 2016 09 Feb'16

  US downplays claims of government database hacker

  US official have downplayed a claim that a government database has been hacked, saying none of the data exposed so far is sensitive

• February 08, 2016 08 Feb'16

  Bulk data collection unnecessary for surveillance, says cyber expert

  Opting for bulk data collection and other intrusive surveillance overlooks other means available that do not involve collateral damage to businesses and innocent people, says cyber expert

• February 08, 2016 08 Feb'16

  Hunt promises £4bn investment in NHS IT

  Government has announced a £4.2bn investment in a ‘paperless NHS’, with money to be spent on electronic patient records, cyber security, apps and Wi-Fi

• February 05, 2016 05 Feb'16

  Vaizey launches cyber security learning tool for HR professionals

  The government and the CIPD have launched a free e-learning module to help HR professionals protect sensitive HR data and educate the wider workforce about cyber security

• February 05, 2016 05 Feb'16

  Threat intelligence vital to cyber defence, claims CrowdStrike

  Companies that ignore the global events that are the drivers behind cyber threats will pay for it in the loss of revenue, jobs, intellectual property, and shareholder value, says CrowdStrike

• February 05, 2016 05 Feb'16

  Mobile apps are big threat to business security, researcher warns

  Attackers could already be exploiting the fact that most mobile apps are ‘leaving the door wide open’ through poor and insecure coding practices, says security researcher James Lyne

• February 04, 2016 04 Feb'16

  IoT risks raise concerns among IT specialists in central and eastern Europe

  The internet of things is gaining momentum in central and eastern Europe, but IT professionals have worries over security

• February 04, 2016 04 Feb'16

  Energy sector lacks visibility of damaging cyber attacks

  While 82% of energy sector IT professionals say a cyber attack could cause physical damage, 65% cannot track all threats to their networks

• February 04, 2016 04 Feb'16

  Google’s Chrome to flag deceptive embedded content

  Browser will warn of any embedded content such as ads that pretend to act like, and look and feel like, a trusted entity

• February 03, 2016 03 Feb'16

  Most UK firms lack cyber resilience, Ponemon study shows

  Despite understanding the severity of cyber threats, most UK companies are not resilient to attacks and lack confidence in their ability to recover

• February 01, 2016 01 Feb'16

  DDoS is most common cyber attack on financial institutions

  January’s attack on HSBC is typical for the financial sector, but no business should consider itself unlikely to be targeted in this way, say security experts

• February 01, 2016 01 Feb'16

  Australia offers easy targets for cyber criminals

  Security experts criticise organisations for paying up too easily when hit by ransomware

• February 01, 2016 01 Feb'16

  Cyber extortion is a growing, but largely hidden threat

  Security industry warns of increasing cyber extortion attacks as Lincolnshire County Council is hit by a ransomware demand

• February 01, 2016 01 Feb'16

  UK surveillance bill could hurt tech sector, warn MPs

  Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee says government's planned surveillance bill is too vague and needs to be redrafted to avoid economic damage

• January 29, 2016 29 Jan'16

  IT security salaries on the rise as cyber crime increases

  Salaries for IT security professionals are on the rise as firms react to an increase in cyber crime

• January 29, 2016 29 Jan'16

  Industrial control systems a growing target for cyber attack

  Attackers with increasing capabilities have strong financial motivation to go after critical infrastructure and manufacturing firms, says security industry expert

• January 29, 2016 29 Jan'16

  HSBC online services hit by DDoS attack

  HSBC was hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which targeted its online personal banking services.

• January 29, 2016 29 Jan'16

  ICO launches data privacy assessment tool for SMEs

  The ICO has launched an online self-assessment tool to help SMEs to comply with data protection laws and improve data handling procedures

• January 29, 2016 29 Jan'16

  The need for cyber security skills in Australia balloons

  Demand for people with the right mix of skills to keep organisations in Australia safe from cyber attack is far in excess of supply

• January 28, 2016 28 Jan'16

  Business urged to take action on data privacy

  Security professionals use Data Protection Day to encourage businesses to do more to protect personal data

• January 28, 2016 28 Jan'16

  Islamic State in recruitment spree for Indian hackers

  Islamic State is recruiting hackers in India to steal sensitive data from governments with offers worth as much as $10,000 a job

• January 28, 2016 28 Jan'16

  Address IoT security risks before it is too late, urges report

  Cyber crime defences are lagging behind IoT development, which could be disastrous for producers and consumers alike, warns Telefónica report

• January 27, 2016 27 Jan'16

  Security is crucial to IoT market success

  Growth of the internet of things will be slowed or stunted if the industry fails to be proactive about data security, according to IoT Security Foundation

• January 27, 2016 27 Jan'16

  Keep data safe or risk financial impact, ICO warns business

  The knock-on effect of a data breach can be devastating for a company, warns information commissioner Christopher Graham

• January 27, 2016 27 Jan'16

  New government plan to support cyber security startups

  Government has announced a £250,000 programme to increase the rate of cyber security startup development in the UK

• January 27, 2016 27 Jan'16

  Average DDoS attacks fatal to most businesses, report reveals

  Criminal activity is top motivation for DDoS attacks as average attacks become strong enough to down most businesses, Arbor Networks report reveals

• January 25, 2016 25 Jan'16

  Manage cyber risk for business benefit, says industry expert

  Cyber risk management can add business benefit while improving security, says Digital Policy Alliance advisory panel member Philip Virgo

• January 22, 2016 22 Jan'16

  Irish sites downed by DDoS attacks

  A series of DDoS attacks in Ireland has disrupted government services

• January 22, 2016 22 Jan'16

  California joins New York in opposing phone encryption

  California is considering a ban on the sale of smartphones that cannot be decrypted and unlocked by their manufacturers

• January 22, 2016 22 Jan'16

  $54m cyber fraud hits aircraft supplier share price

  Austrian aircraft industry supplier reports cyber fraud loss of $54m, way above the average cost of the worst breaches in the UK of up to $4.4m in 2015

• January 21, 2016 21 Jan'16

  NHS IT managers think security better than it is, survey finds

  NHS IT managers think security measures in the NHS are stronger than they actually are, according to a study

• January 21, 2016 21 Jan'16

  Candy Crush maker King secures mobile access through cloud

  Candy Crush maker King.com uses cloud-based Duo Security authentication for access to cloud services, customised apps and remote VPNs

• January 21, 2016 21 Jan'16

  New wave of cyber attacks hit Ukrainian power firms

  Security researchers have uncovered emails sent to Ukrainian power companies with links to malware for creating backdoor access to IT systems

• January 21, 2016 21 Jan'16

  Revamped Dridex Trojan continues to plunder UK banks

  Cyber criminals operating the revamped Dridex malware are targeting business accounts at UK banks

• January 20, 2016 20 Jan'16

  Government drafts in civilians to fight cyber crime

  The government plans to bolster police capacity to fight cyber crime by approving measures to give powers to volunteers with specialist knowledge

• January 19, 2016 19 Jan'16

  Most Android devices running outdated versions

  Nearly a third of Android devices in enterprises today are running version 4.0 or older of the operating system, leaving them highly susceptible to vulnerabilities, a study shows

• January 19, 2016 19 Jan'16

  Only half of businesses ready to defend against cyber attack

  Lack of confidence in cyber security is driven by businesses' struggle to keep pace with the agility, resilience and persistence of attackers, says Cisco report

• January 19, 2016 19 Jan'16

  Automated bots drive cyber attack innovation

  Persistent cyber attacks will feature highly in 2016 as automation takes over, according to cyber security organisation Radware

• January 19, 2016 19 Jan'16

  Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull calls for free, open and secure internet

  International norms of behaviour should prohibit states from conducting cyber intellectual property theft, says Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull

• January 18, 2016 18 Jan'16

  UK cyber fraud up 21%, says police fraud unit

  GetSafeOnline says more than 95,500 phishing scams were reported in the 12 months up to October 2015

• January 18, 2016 18 Jan'16

  Chinese university targeted by Islamic State hacktivist

  Beijing’s Tsinghua University is the latest organisation to be attacked by hackers with a social or political agenda

• January 15, 2016 15 Jan'16

  Lords urge government to reconsider national ID card

  The House of Lords debates the use of ID cards to tackle identity assurance, fraud, terrorism and crime – and urges government to review the issue

• January 15, 2016 15 Jan'16

  Countries underestimate risk of cyber attack, says WEF

  Cyber attacks are one of the most serious risks facing global economies, according to the World Economic Forum's 2016 risk report

• January 15, 2016 15 Jan'16

  GMB union gets good response from MPs over British Airways IT outsourcing concerns

  MPs will try to set up a meeting with BA senior management to discuss union’s concerns over outsourcing of IT jobs to Indian supplier TCS

• January 14, 2016 14 Jan'16

  Forcepoint combines Raytheon, Websense and Stonesoft

  Raytheon-Websense acquires Stonesoft and Sidewinder technologies, relaunching as Forcepoint

• January 14, 2016 14 Jan'16

  Anonymous targets Nissan in awareness campaign

  Car maker targeted by DDoS attacks in a campaign protesting against Japan’s resumption of whaling

• January 13, 2016 13 Jan'16

  Visibility key to stopping cyber adversaries, says security veteran

  Companies are beginning to accept that they will be compromised, so the demand is growing to know just how often and how deep, says ForeScout CEO Michael DeCesare

• January 13, 2016 13 Jan'16

  Watchdog urges US nuclear agency to close cyber security gaps

  An audit report has called on the US nuclear agency to revise its IT contracts to ensure better cyber security

• January 12, 2016 12 Jan'16

  More endpoints managed is security concern, say IT services firms

  The rising number of devices connected to corporate networks is a security challenge for the IT services firms managing these endpoints

• January 12, 2016 12 Jan'16

  Police take action against cyber extortion gang DD4BC

  Police have made one arrest and gathered evidence in searches of properties in an international operation aimed at cyber extortion gang DD4BC

• January 12, 2016 12 Jan'16

  TrendMicro releases emergency fix

  TrendMicro has issued an emergency update for its antivirus product, but problems remain, according to the security researcher who reported critical vulnerabilities in the software

• January 12, 2016 12 Jan'16

  Law should force companies to reveal cyber attacks, says Liam Fox

  Government should introduce legislation forcing firms to inform shareholders when they have been hacked, says Tory backbench MP Liam Fox

• January 11, 2016 11 Jan'16

  Interxion confirms customer contact details compromised by hackers

  Colocation provider confirms that hackers gained unauthorised access to its CRM system in December

• January 11, 2016 11 Jan'16

  Cyber attacks caused Ukraine power outages, report confirms

  A co-ordinated cyber attack consisting of multiple elements is one of the expected hazards the power industry now faces, says Sans report

• January 11, 2016 11 Jan'16

  Jeremy Corbyn’s team quickly regains control of hacked Twitter account

  A hacker gained control of Jeremy Corbyn' s Twitter account, but managed to publish only four posts before control was taken back and the posts deleted

• January 08, 2016 08 Jan'16

  Time Warner Cable denies breach

  US telecoms firm believes passwords were stolen either through phishing attacks or data breaches at other companies that store its customer information

• January 08, 2016 08 Jan'16

  US officials to meet tech firms about countering Islamic State

  Discussions will cover ways of making it more difficult for extremist groups to use online services to further their aims

• January 07, 2016 07 Jan'16

  Half of UK banks have insecure SSL

  A UK-based security company has revealed that half of UK banks are using out-of-date security technology

• January 07, 2016 07 Jan'16

  European police smash ATM malware gang

  Cyber criminals caused substantial losses across Europe by using Tyupkin malware to access ATM cash cassettes

• January 07, 2016 07 Jan'16

  French intelligence ‘could have prevented Paris attacks'

  A former US intelligence director turned whistleblower tells MPs and peers that bulk collection of internet and phone data is putting lives at risk

• January 06, 2016 06 Jan'16

  Upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 to reduce risk

  Failure to update to the latest version of Internet Explorer by 12 January 2016 could put users at risk, Microsoft warns

• January 04, 2016 04 Jan'16

  IT security predictions for Australian organisations in 2016

  What IT security challenges should Australian organisations expect in the new year?

• January 04, 2016 04 Jan'16

  BlackEnergy Trojan resurfaces to cause power outages

  Trojan has been used to deliver a destructive component in attacks on power and media companies in Ukraine, say Eset researchers

• December 31, 2015 31 Dec'15

  Top 10 internet of things stories of 2015

  2015 was the year the internet of things began to move from theory to widespread practice, and the fledgling industry shook off the millstone of connected kitchen appliances

• December 24, 2015 24 Dec'15

  Top 10 IT security stories of 2015

  Computer Weekly looks back at the most significant stories on IT security in the past 12 months

• December 23, 2015 23 Dec'15

  The Higher Education Academy gives universities £500,000 to develop cyber security specialists

  The Department for Culture, Media and Sports has partnered with the Higher Education Academy to provide universities with funding and support to train cyber security specialists

• December 23, 2015 23 Dec'15

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2015

  Computer Weekly takes a look back at the top cyber crime stories of 2015

• December 17, 2015 17 Dec'15

  Australian corporate counsel under cyber attack but no plans to increase security spend

  Australia’s corporate counsel are suffering a high rate of data breaches compared to many regions, but do not plan to spend more on preventative security

• December 16, 2015 16 Dec'15

  Deal on EU data protection is close

  A deal to standardise data protection rules across the EU could be imminent after compromises were made

• December 15, 2015 15 Dec'15

  Bracknell man arrested over VTech toy hack

  Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with the hacking of Hong Kong-based toymaker VTech

• December 14, 2015 14 Dec'15

  Commonwealth Bank Australia partners University of New South Wales on cyber security

  Australian bank and university work together to train the next generation of cyber security experts

• December 14, 2015 14 Dec'15

  Hundreds of European banks apply for .bank domain

  Over 500 European banks have applied for the .bank domain name, as part of their defences against cyber crime

• December 11, 2015 11 Dec'15

  UK hosts international cyber attack response test

  The UK has hosted an exercise to test how investigators and prosecutors across Europe and the US would work together in the event of a complex international cyber criminal incident

• December 11, 2015 11 Dec'15

  Eight startups selected for Cyber London security accelerator programme

  Cyber London has selected startups from the UK, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Brazil and South Africa for its second cyber security accelerator programme

• December 11, 2015 11 Dec'15

  UK firms act quickly to fix payment card data encryption

  Security firm found that 16 global companies had failed to effectively encrypt traffic to the payment portion of their websites and apps

• December 10, 2015 10 Dec'15

  Cyber criminals not to blame for all DDoS attacks, study shows

  There is a real concern that many companies are being affected by the DDoS attacks commissioned by competitors, according to Kaspersky Lab

• December 10, 2015 10 Dec'15

  Experian chooses UK authentication startup for Gov.UK Verify

  To ensure that UK citizens using Gov.UK Verify have secure access to their online accounts, Experian is using distributed cryptography technology from MIRACL

• December 10, 2015 10 Dec'15

  Cyber criminals switch tactics to cut costs

  Cyber criminals have realised they can get the same results as malware with other attack methods, but at a lower cost

• December 09, 2015 09 Dec'15

  Jisc issues tender for second shared services datacentre in north of England

  Education network provider issues tender for second shared services datacentre, while warding off DDoS attack

• December 08, 2015 08 Dec'15

  Australian university launches cyber security master's degree

  The University of New South Wales in Canberra has launched a master's course in cyber security, strategy and diplomacy

• December 08, 2015 08 Dec'15

  Google’s Eric Schmidt calls for social media controls

  Google chairman Eric Schmidt has called for tech firms to develop “spellcheckers” for hate and harassment as alternatives to censorship

• December 07, 2015 07 Dec'15

  IT gives Rotterdam psychological care provider more time with clients

  A psychological care provider in the Netherlands, Pameijer, has improved efficiency, improved care and become more secure through an identity and access management project

• December 07, 2015 07 Dec'15

  Global operation targets Dorkbot botnet

  The latest international operation against cyber criminals included seizing domains to disrupt the Dorkbot operators’ capacity to control their victims’ computers

• December 07, 2015 07 Dec'15

  Cyber attacks an increasing concern for Asean countries

  Organisations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are increasingly the targets for cyber criminals, according to a report focused on the region

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  EFF sets up software vulnerability disclosure programme

  The EFF’s vulnerability disclosure programme includes a set of guidelines on how to report bugs in software the group develops and uses, offering several non-cash rewards

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  Wetherspoon pub chain warns customers of data breach

  Discovery of a data breach at JD Wetherspoons comes hard on the heels of a breach at TalkTalk, underlining the importance of keeping customer data safe

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  Veracode finds most web apps fail Owasp security check list

  The findings of a report on critical vulnerabilities in most web applications is raising concerns over potential security vulnerabilities in millions of websites

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  The US and China agree more steps to fight cyber crime

  The US and China have made progress in expanding co-operation on cyber crime as China claims criminals and not state-backed hackers broke into the US Office of Personnel Management

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  Workday ringfences support in Europe after Safe Harbour ruled unsafe

  US cloud HR and financial services provider reponds to Safe Harbour failure by ringfencing European data

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  Cyber insurance likely to drive better security, says Raytheon-Websense

  Security improvements driven by cyber insurance requirements is one of the top predictions in a Raytheon-Websense report on security trends in 2016

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  Australia blames China for cyber attack on supercomputer

  A cyber attack on a supercomputer at Australia's weather bureau has raised fears that potentially sensitive national security information may have been compromised

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  IISS urges world policy makers to consider cyber domain more seriously

  The cyber domain needs to be better understood and the subject of greater strategic focus, according to a report by the Interanational Institute for Strategic Studies

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  Security analytics needs practical approach, says Fico Ciso Vickie Miller

  Analytics must form part of a comprehensive defence-in-depth strategy, according to chief information security officer (Ciso) Vickie Miller at software firm Fico

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  Financial loss still not a priority for UK IT decision makers

  UK chief information officers are more concerned with the loss of sensitive data in the face of increased cyber threats than financial loss, a survey has revealed

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  EU agencies boost Europol powers to fight terrorism and cyber crime

  The European Parliament and Council have agreed to extend Europol's powers to enable faster responses to terrorism, cyber crime and other organised crime

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  International police seize nearly 1,000 counterfeit goods sites

  UK law enforcement officers have taken part in the largest international operation to date against the sale of counterfeit goods on e-commerce platforms and social networks

• November 30, 2015 30 Nov'15

  Five key checks to ensure a business is ready for cyber attacks

  Top of any company’s cyber security checklist should be ensuring that the cyber security strategy is taking all changes in the operating environment into account, says BAE Systems