News

IT governance

• September 28, 2021 28 Sep'21

  Digital regulators need discrete but cooperative remits

  The UK’s information commissioner has told MPs that digital economy regulators need discrete remits backed up by strong information sharing powers to both provide clear focus as well as allow for greater cooperation between their disparate but ...

• September 28, 2021 28 Sep'21

  How one red team exercise averted a new SolarWinds-style attack

  Palo Alto Networks shares details of how its red teamers found and sealed a customer vulnerability that could have led to another SolarWinds-style supply chain attack

• September 24, 2021 24 Sep'21

  London publishes guidelines for ethical use of smart city tech

  Latest draft of the ‘Emerging Technology Charter for London’ encourages local authorities, public services and technology companies to improve how they implement technology in the capital

• September 23, 2021 23 Sep'21

  Fresh alert over Conti ransomware surge

  Conti ransomware crew appears increasingly active, prompting fresh warnings from the US authorities

• September 23, 2021 23 Sep'21

  MoD in second leak of Afghan citizens’ data

  A second breach of data relating to Afghan citizens at risk of Taliban reprisals has been reported by the Ministry of Defence

• September 23, 2021 23 Sep'21

  Threat actors target VMware vCenter Server users

  Users of VMware vCenter Server are advised to patch a series of vulnerabilities post haste

• September 22, 2021 22 Sep'21

  AI cannot be regulated by technical measures alone

  The regulation of artificial intelligence must address the power of tech companies, as technical measures alone will not be enough to prevent the harms caused by AI-driven technologies, says report

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  US sanctions Suex crypto exchange over ransomware links

  US Treasury cracks down on cryptocurrency exchange that supposedly facilitated proceeds from multiple ransomware gangs

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  Spanish police bust Mafia-linked phishing gang

  A joint operation between European authorities has dismantled a cyber criminal gang with links to the Italian Mafia

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  BlackMatter gang ramps up attacks on multiple victims

  A wave of new BlackMatter ransomware attacks is hitting organisations around the world, even as the US authorities mull new sanctions on ransom payment infrastructure

• September 20, 2021 20 Sep'21

  NGO Fair Trials calls on EU to ban predictive policing systems

  The use of artificial intelligence to predict criminal behaviour should be banned because of its discriminatory outcomes and high risk of further entrenching existing inequalities, claims Fair Trials

• September 16, 2021 16 Sep'21

  Travel-themed phishing lures spiked this summer

  As people begin to take holidays again after more than a year of restrictions and lockdowns, opportunist cyber criminals have taken note, according to new data from Palo Alto’s Unit 42

• September 15, 2021 15 Sep'21

  UN human rights chief calls for moratorium on AI technologies

  High commissioner’s call for a moratorium on the use of AI systems that pose a serious risk to human rights is accompanied by a UN report on the negative human rights impacts associated with the technology

• September 15, 2021 15 Sep'21

  Microsoft patches 66 vulnerabilities in September update

  Another lighter-than-usual Patch Tuesday update includes important fixes for recently disclosed vulnerabilities, including a dangerous zero-day, and an update in the PrintNightmare saga

• September 14, 2021 14 Sep'21

  Mass health tracker data breach has UK impact

  The leak of a database of 61 million users of health-tracking devices includes records on individuals located in the UK

• September 14, 2021 14 Sep'21

  Cost of ransomware attack in financial sector exceeds $2m

  Mid-sized financial services organisations worldwide spend an average of over $2m recovering from ransomware attacks

• September 14, 2021 14 Sep'21

  Apple patches ForcedEntry vulnerability used by spyware firm NSO

  Apple patches ForcedEntry vulnerability that was used to target political activists with spyware

• September 13, 2021 13 Sep'21

  Smishing attacks up sevenfold in six months

  Scam text messages are reaching pandemic proportions, thanks in part to the pandemic

• September 13, 2021 13 Sep'21

  Olympus likely victim of BlackMatter ransomware

  Key IT systems remain shut off at Olympus, five days after what seems to have been a BlackMatter ransomware attack

• September 09, 2021 09 Sep'21

  UK GDPR faces changes under planned reforms

  DCMS is launching a major consultation on proposed changes to the UK’s data protection regime, under which several key elements of the GDPR are likely to change

• September 08, 2021 08 Sep'21

  REvil reappearance may herald new ransom campaigns

  The re-emergence of the infamous REvil ransomware gang is a likely sign that more high-profile attacks will unfold over the coming weeks

• September 08, 2021 08 Sep'21

  Covid positive for security market, but still a source of stress

  CIISec’s latest “State of the profession report” highlights both positives and challenges for cyber pros arising from the past two years

• September 08, 2021 08 Sep'21

  Stolen credit card data worth about £13 on dark web, PayPal worth more

  The average price of a stolen credit card on a dark web marketplace comes in at around $17.40, or £12.60, according to new data – but the real money for cyber criminals is in hacked PayPal accounts

• September 07, 2021 07 Sep'21

  ICO in bid to end cookie pop-ups

  Outgoing information commissioner Elizabeth Denham will call on her equivalents across the G7 group of countries to collaborate on an overhaul of cookie consent pop-ups

• September 07, 2021 07 Sep'21

  Lords committee calls for evidence on digital regulation

  House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee has called for evidence to inform its inquiry into the effectiveness of digital regulation

• September 03, 2021 03 Sep'21

  Mandiant, Sophos detail dangerous ProxyShell attacks

  Threat researchers and incident responders continue to track threat activity around the dangerous ProxyShell Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities, including impactful ransomware hits

• September 02, 2021 02 Sep'21

  WhatsApp fined €225m over GDPR breaches

  Irish data protection watchdog has issued one of the largest GDPR fines to date against Facebook-owned WhatsApp

• September 02, 2021 02 Sep'21

  Twitter tests auto-block feature for accounts at risk of abuse

  Latest Twitter feature automatically blocks abusive users, and is intended to help victims regain control of their experience on the platform

• September 01, 2021 01 Sep'21

  Experts warn on Office 365 phishing attacks

  Newly observed campaign is particularly dangerous because it appears to neutralise one of the most widely known anti-phishing techniques

• September 01, 2021 01 Sep'21

  Remote workers routinely bypassed security tools during pandemic

  New data from Palo Alto Networks reveals that over 25% of UK security leaders saw their employees circumventing or switching off security measures at the height of the pandemic

• August 27, 2021 27 Aug'21

  Are proposed data protection changes a threat to UK citizens’ privacy?

  Though changes are as-yet undefined pending an upcoming consultation, concerns are already being expressed over the government’s plan to liberalise data protection laws in the service of innovation and growth

• August 26, 2021 26 Aug'21

  Tech giants commit to Biden's cyber security action plan

  Some of the world’s most prominent tech giants have made a series of commitments to enhance the US’ national cyber security posture following a high-profile meeting with president Biden

• August 26, 2021 26 Aug'21

  Government unveils post-Brexit data flow proposals

  The government will pursue data partnerships with countries including Australia, South Korea and the US as part of a post-Brexit data regime that may also see substantial changes to the UK’s data protection law

• August 26, 2021 26 Aug'21

  NZ privacy lead John Edwards named new information commissioner

  DCMS has named John Edwards, currently New Zealand privacy commissioner, to succeed Elizabeth Denham as UK information commissioner

• August 25, 2021 25 Aug'21

  Algorithmic accountability needs meaningful public participation

  Global analysis by Ada Lovelace Institute and other research groups finds algorithmic accountability mechanisms in the public sector are hindered by a lack of engagement with the public

• August 25, 2021 25 Aug'21

  Calling the cops for ransomware attacks doesn’t help, say cyber pros

  A new study for the #Ransomaware campaign reveals some insight into why so few victims report ransomware attacks

• August 25, 2021 25 Aug'21

  UK loses £1.3bn to fraud and cyber crime so far this year

  New figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau show a threefold spike in reported financial losses to fraud and cyber crime in the first six months of 2021

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  13 million malware attacks on Linux seen in wild

  Cryptominers, web shells and ransomware are the most common varieties of malwares targeting Linux systems, thanks to its prevalence as the backbone of most public cloud services

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  Half of MS Exchange servers at risk in ProxyShell debacle

  Up to 50% of MS Exchange users in the UK are exposed to three vulnerabilities that are now being actively exploited

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  Over a million opt out of NHS data-sharing

  Failure to communicate benefits of data-sharing proposals and privacy concerns are prompting large numbers of people to opt out of a proposed NHS Digital scheme

• August 24, 2021 24 Aug'21

  Campaign groups claim police have bypassed Parliament with plans for live facial-recognition tech

  Civil society groups call for Parliament to scrutinise the use of live facial-recognition cameras

• August 23, 2021 23 Aug'21

  Cities worldwide band together to push for ethical AI

  The chief digital and technology officers of London and Barcelona speak to Computer Weekly about their joint initiative launched with other cities to promote the ethical deployment of artificial intelligence in urban spaces

• August 19, 2021 19 Aug'21

  Pub apps harvesting swathes of customer data unnecessarily

  Some pub and restaurant chain apps demand data such as gender and marital status, raising eyebrows among privacy campaigners

• August 19, 2021 19 Aug'21

  IT leaders fear ‘trickle-down’ of nation-state cyber attacks

  Three-quarters of IT decision-makers are concerned that the tactics, techniques and procedures used by nation-state attackers could be used against them

• August 18, 2021 18 Aug'21

  UK government criticised for proposed facial-recognition guidance

  Privacy campaigners say the government's updated 'surveillance camera code of practice' does not do enough to mitigate abuses of facial-recognition technology

• August 17, 2021 17 Aug'21

  Educational publisher Pearson fined for data breach cover-up

  Securities and Exchange Commission says publisher misled its investors over the extent of a 2018 data breach

• August 17, 2021 17 Aug'21

  Security Think Tank: Building privacy-preserving apps and platforms

  ISACA’s Gaurav Deep Singh Johar explores how to embed privacy practices into digital platform architecture

• August 13, 2021 13 Aug'21

  How to get API deployments right

  Application programming interfaces are not the panacea for digital transformation and could even lead to escalating costs for problems that are better addressed through integration

• August 12, 2021 12 Aug'21

  ICO consults on new international data transfer agreement

  Information Commissioner’s Office to consult on its draft international data transfer agreement and guidance, which will replace standard contractual clauses to protect personal data during overseas transfers

• July 29, 2021 29 Jul'21

  HMRC hits Home Office with £33.5m bill over ‘careless’ application of IR35 rules

  The Home Office is the latest ministerial department to be hit with a multimillion-pound tax demand from HMRC after errors were discovered in its implementation of the IR35 rules

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  Almost half unaware of GP data-sharing plans

  Around half of adults in England – approximately 20 million people – remain unaware of the scope of the NHS GPDPR programme, prompting calls for a public education campaign

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  US lawmakers call for probe into ‘arrogant’ spyware firm

  US members of Congress have called for an investigation into NSO Group, the spyware supplier at the centre of a massive surveillance scandal

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  TikTok sets up cyber security hub in Dublin

  Dublin-based cyber centre will oversee the security of TikTok’s users across Europe

• July 26, 2021 26 Jul'21

  No More Ransom initiative saves £850m over five years

  Initiative’s free ransomware decryption tools have been used by more than six million people since 2016

• July 23, 2021 23 Jul'21

  Kaseya obtains universal ransomware decryptor

  Kaseya says it obtained a ransomware decryptor key from a trusted third party, but there is no word on whether a ransom was paid

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Plans to address legal but harmful content ‘threaten free speech’

  House of Lords report criticises the government’s forthcoming Online Safety Bill for imposing duty of care on tech platforms to deal with ‘legal but harmful’ content, which it says threatens freedom of expression online

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  Cloud Foundry Foundation rebalances commercial code contributions

  Most open source contributions in Cloud Foundry come from developers whose companies commercialise the platform

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  France’s Macron among alleged Pegasus targets

  Data relating to devices used by French president Emmanuel Macron and the head of the World Health Organization, among others, has been uncovered in a dataset linked to government use of spyware

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  Government shares vision for digitised energy system as it pursues net-zero emissions target

  Strategy is geared towards readying the UK energy system for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable power through digital transformation

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  NCSC’s Cameron urges deeper cyber alliance-building

  Speaking to an event in Israel, NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron has praised joint UK-Israeli efforts on security collaboration

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  NHS Digital tightens rules for GPDPR data scrape

  The proposed collection of patient data held by GPs will now only commence when three key criteria have been fulfilled, says NHS Digital

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  UK, US confirm Chinese state backed MS Exchange Server attacks

  UK and US governments, alongside the EU and Nato, have formally attributed the March 2021 Microsoft Exchange Server attacks to Chinese state-backed actors

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  Lawyers take EncroChat hacking operation to French supreme court

  Lawyers head to French supreme court after appeals court finds EnroChat inception legal under French law

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  UK workforce needs reskilling for net-zero transition

  Green Jobs Taskforce report looks at how the UK’s workforce can be skilled up to support the transition to net zero

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  Privacy Shield: US surveillance law reforms essential for EU-US data, says EU parliamentary study

  EU Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs study calls for major reforms of US spying laws to enable an EU-US data-sharing agreement to replace Privacy Shield

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  UK should set up digital task forces to transform governance

  Commission for Smart Government paper sets out recommendations for how government can use digital technologies to better serve citizens’ needs, and calls for it to set up new digital task forces

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  REvil ransomware crew drops offline, reasons murky

  The REvil ransomware operation appears to have gone dark, but claims about its demise are almost certainly exaggerated

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  More than half of European IT outsourcing spending will soon be on cloud services

  Cloud services will soon be the largest part of the IT services market in Europe, as enterprises invest in them as part of their Covid-19 recovery strategies

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  Multiple Microsoft bugs being actively exploited

  Microsoft’s July Patch Tuesday update fixes 117 vulnerabilities, 13 rated as critical and four already being actively exploited

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Secureworks sets up in EU datacentre for XDR services

  New datacentre location helps Secureworks’ customers meet EU data residency requirements

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  UK Cyber Security Council calls for new push on training

  Too many companies have cut back on security training and development during the pandemic, says UK Cyber Security Council

• July 08, 2021 08 Jul'21

  Developers have a moral duty to create ethical AI

  Corsight AI publishes report on how organisations can develop more human-centric AI and biometric technologies

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  ICO to probe Hancock over private email use

  Former health secretary faces an investigation by the UK’s data protection watchdog over his use of private email to conduct government business

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  Former Bank of England CIO joins Co-op Group as CTO

  Rob Elsey joins the Co-op Group at a time when the organisation is undergoing major digital transformation

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  How the UK Cyber Security Council plans to professionalise security

  As chair of the new UK Cyber Security Council, Claudia Natanson is in a superb position to develop professional standards in IT security and she intends to fundamentally reimagine what a security job actually is

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Bank of England searches for new CIO amid once-in-a-generation project

  The Bank of England is recruiting a head of IT during a period of major change in its core IT system

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Cyber insurance costs up by a third

  The frequency and severity of ransomware attacks is a leading factor behind a substantial increase in the cost of obtaining cyber security insurance

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  BA reaches settlement in data breach group action

  A group action against BA following its 2018 data breach has been successfully settled

• July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21

  REvil crew wants $70m in Kaseya ransomware heist

  Two days after one of the largest ransomware attacks in history by the REvil/Sodinokibi gang, the security community is assessing its next moves, while over 1,000 victims remain in limbo

• July 03, 2021 03 Jul'21

  Berlin court finds EncroChat intercept evidence cannot be used in criminal trials

  In a major setback for police hacking operations, Berlin’s regional court has decided that intercepted data from the EncroChat phone network should not be used in criminal prosecutions

• July 02, 2021 02 Jul'21

  UK needs legislation with specific focus on biometric technologies

  The UK’s former biometrics commissioner has told MPs that Parliament should explicitly legislate on the use of biometric technologies so it is clear to both police and private companies which uses are acceptable

• July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21

  UK government issues “safety by design” guidance for tech firms

  The guidance is designed to help technology companies embed safer design for users into their services in anticipation of the Online Safety Bill becoming law

• July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21

  US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launches ransomware assessment tool

  Newly launched service will help US organisations understand how prepared they are to deal with a ransomware attack

• July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21

  Cyber espionage campaign targeted central Asian states

  The Afghan, Kyrgyz and Uzbek governments are all thought to have been targeted by the same APT

• July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21

  NHS IT fraudster Barry Stannard sentenced to five years in prison

  Stannard used his position as head of unified communications at an Essex NHS Trust to cheat the taxpayer of more than £800,000

• June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21

  REvil affiliates offer hefty ransom discounts, data reveals

  REvil or Sodinokibi ransomware activity is higher than ever, but its success appears to be relative, with some affiliates prepared to dramatically cut their prices

• June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21

  LinkedIn denies exposure of 700 million user records is a data breach

  Data relating to 700 million users of the LinkedIn networking platform has appeared for sale, but the firm says it is the victim of data scraping, not a security breach

• June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21

  Cops seize criminal VPN used by ransomware gangs

  A coordinated sting has ended the operations of the DoubleVPN service, the owners of which are accused of harbouring cyber criminal activity

• June 29, 2021 29 Jun'21

  New Nobelium attacks a reminder to attend to cyber basics

  A new campaign from the same threat group that broke into SolarWinds serves as a reminder that cyber crime gangs will try to exploit any avenue they can, even if technically unsophisticated

• June 29, 2021 29 Jun'21

  UK Cyber Security Council launches inaugural initiatives

  Security association seeks to determine terms of reference for committees to oversee standards and ethics, and qualifications and careers in the cyber sector

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  Insurers unprepared for challenges of underwriting ransomware

  RUSI think tank calls for an industry-wide reset amid intense challenges for providers of cyber security insurance

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  UK’s FCA bans crypto exchange Binance as crackdown spreads

  Ban on Binance Markets comes amid a wider global crackdown on the largely unregulated global market for cryptocurrencies and related assets.

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  HMRC-branded phishing scams surge despite protections

  The number of HMRC-branded phishing scams surged 87% in the past 12 months, according to latest revealed figures

• June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21

  NCSC CEO: UK-Ireland collaboration crucial to stop cyber threats

  Speaking at a conference in Dublin, NCSC Lindy Cameron is highlighting the importance of continued collaboration between the UK and Ireland to protect shared interests and counter security threats

• June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21

  Anglesey schools offline after cyber attack

  Isle of Anglesey County Council is investigating a cyber attack that has forced it to shut down systems at all five secondary schools on the island

• June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21

  CMA to probe Amazon and Google over fake reviews

  The CMA has opened an investigation into Amazon and Google over possible breaches of consumer protection law

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Google hands third-party cookies a stay of execution

  Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox initiative – which will see third-party cookies phased out in the Chrome web browser – has been pushed back to 2023

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Revealed: Crypto platform’s role in Cl0p ransomware raid

  Crypto infrastructure provider Binance provided assistance to law enforcement after finding its exchange was being used by cyber criminals to launder their ransomware profits

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Online Safety Bill unfit for purpose, says new campaign group

  Campaign group set up to oppose Online Safety Bill says the duty of care is too simplistic, cedes too much power to US corporations and will, in practice, privilege the speech of journalists or politicians

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  (ISC)² makes ransomware education course free through 31 July

  Cyber security association is making its Professional Development Institute course on ransomware free to the general public until the end of July