News

IT governance

• 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

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Vodafone confirms European datacentres will be powered by 100% green energy by July 2021

  Telco giant claims it is on course to hit an important milestone in its latest sustainability push, with its entire European operations set to be 100% renewably powered by 1 July

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Make ransomware payments illegal, say 79% of cyber pros

  Report produced for MSSP Talion claims overwhelming support for the criminalisation of ransomware payments

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  City of York picks Barracuda Networks for data protection

  York Council needed to refresh its backup service to bring new security protections after it went ‘all-in’ on Microsoft Office 365

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  European Union to set up new cyber response unit

  Proposed Joint Cyber Unit will tackle a rising number of serious incidents impacting public services, businesses and citizens of the EU

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  Time to patch increases significantly during pandemic

  New data from US-based endpoint management specialist Automox reveals some of the challenges security teams face in keeping up with endpoint security

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  UK councils reported over 700 data breaches to ICO in 2020

  Data disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act reveals an estimated 700 data breaches were reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office by local councils last year

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  SonicWall sees 226.3 million ransomware attack attempts this year

  SonicWall detected 226.3 million attempted ransomware attacks between January and May 2021, more than double the number seen in the same period last year

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  EU regulators call for ban on biometrics in public spaces

  European Union’s data protection regulators say facial recognition and other biometric identification technologies present too great a risk to fundamental human rights to be allowed in public spaces

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  CDEI: UK public wants clear algorithmic transparency policies

  A research exercise by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has found the UK public wants clear, easy-to-understand information about algorithms in use by the public sector

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  Cloudflare announces new integrations with Microsoft, others

  New security integrations with Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Splunk, Datadog and Sumo Logic will supposedly make it easier for users to analyse network security data

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  NSPCC, IWF help under-18s scrub their nude photos from the web

  Report Remove tool is designed to be used by under-18s to report nude images or videos of themselves that have appeared online

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  Boris Johnson unveils plans for National Science and Technology Council

  Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced plans to set up a National Science and Technology Council, which will help the UK realise and maximise the opportunities of scientific and technological breakthroughs

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  UK SMEs lack capacity to fend off cyber attacks

  Three-quarters of UK SME leaders would not have sufficient capacity or expertise to deal with a cyber attack, according to a report

• June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21

  Parliamentary devices left in taxis, buses, trains and pubs

  Nearly 100 devices belonging to parliamentary staffers, including MPs and peers, were lost or stolen over the course of 2019 and 2020

• June 18, 2021 18 Jun'21

  NHS App reaches six million users, thanks to Covid vaccine feature

  More than two million new users have downloaded the NHS App since it was updated in May to include Covid-19 vaccination status