News

IT security

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  RobbinHood ransomware tricks Windows into deleting defences

  By subverting kernel memory settings in Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, the RobbinHood ransomware can now delete cyber security defences from target systems

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is ‘most dangerous’ movie

  Ahead of the 2020 Oscars, Kaspersky researchers say they found more than 300 files masquerading as the Joker movie

• February 06, 2020 06 Feb'20

  Maastricht University pays €200,000 to Russian hackers

  A Dutch university has taken the difficult decision to pay hundreds of thousands of Euros to Russian hackers that compromised its systems through a ransomware attack

• February 06, 2020 06 Feb'20

  Stressed, overworked CISOs losing £23k a year in unpaid overtime

  Nominet’s latest CISO Stress Report has revealed the extent to which organisations are taking advantage of their security staff, and the deleterious effects of overwork and stress on mental health

• February 05, 2020 05 Feb'20

  Darktrace signs to McLaren for 2020 F1 season

  McLaren Racing has enlisted Darktrace to become its official artificial intelligence cyber security partner

• February 05, 2020 05 Feb'20

  Scammers using fake PayPal emails stole over £1m in the UK in last quarter

  Fraudsters tricked Brits into sending over £1m worth of goods to them that they hadn't paid for

• February 05, 2020 05 Feb'20

  Web app ubiquity gives cyber criminals new opportunities

  The popularity and ubiquity of web-based apps such as Office 365 and Salesforce is a temptation too good to miss for cyber criminals

• February 05, 2020 05 Feb'20

  Check Point pledges end to security updates

  Check Point’s Gil Shwed expands on a vision for the next 10 years of cyber security, which he calls Infinity Next

• February 05, 2020 05 Feb'20

  IoT network flaw left Philips Hue bulbs open to attack

  Vulnerabilities in the ZigBee internet of things networking protocol have left market-leading smart devices, including Philips Hue lightbulbs, open to exploitation

• February 04, 2020 04 Feb'20

  Acronis CEO bullish as specialist goes beyond backup

  Acronis is set to launch Cyber Protect as it rides a wave of confidence based on increasing revenues and investor funding. Will the backup-plus-cyber protection calculation pay off?

• February 04, 2020 04 Feb'20

  Social media targeting algorithms need regulation, says CDEI

  The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation is recommending regulation of social media algorithms as part of a drive to make user targeting safe and ethical

• February 04, 2020 04 Feb'20

  MI5 faces court ruling over unlawful surveillance warrants

  Privacy groups Liberty and Privacy International ask the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to order MI5 to disclose full details of ‘unlawful’ conduct, after classified documents reveal the spy agency failed to comply with surveillance laws

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  Digital strategy for 2020-2030 sets out police technology plans

  National policing strategy sets a number of technological ambitions for the next decade, placing a particular emphasis on collaborative working and building common standards or frameworks

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  Brexit messes up IT project plans

  With no firm plans for a managed departure from the Europe Union, the UK’s IT spending is set to be curbed, and CIOs will need to start cutting costs as IT budgets decline

• February 03, 2020 03 Feb'20

  NHS adds supplier security audits to procurement platform

  A new feature in the NHS’s Edge4Health procurement platform will help NHS suppliers improve their cyber security posture and NHS organisations make better buying decisions

• January 31, 2020 31 Jan'20

  Davos: The clock is ticking on climate change but cyber crime and emerging technologies add to risks

  Climate change, natural disasters, extreme weather and loss of biodiversity are the greatest risks we face. With cyber conflicts, state-sponsored hacking and internet fragmentation, doing nothing is not an option, says the World Economic Forum

• January 31, 2020 31 Jan'20

  UK police arrest three over Maltese cyber bank robbery

  The NCA has made three arrests in Belfast and London following an investigation into money laundering linked to a cyber heist on a bank in Malta

• January 30, 2020 30 Jan'20

  NCSC launches study on cyber security diversity

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre wants to improve the diversity of the cyber security sector

• January 30, 2020 30 Jan'20

  First coronavirus cyber threats seen in the wild

  Kaspersky has reported the first incidences of cyber security threats playing on fears of the emerging coronavirus

• January 30, 2020 30 Jan'20

  Avast cans data harvesting subsidiary after outcry

  Avast will close its Jumpshot big data unit following repeated allegations of inappropriate handling of customer data

• January 29, 2020 29 Jan'20

  UK cyber security sector worth more than £8bn

  The UK’s cyber security industry employs 43,000 full-time workers, and contributed nearly £4bn to the UK economy in 2019, according to DCMS

• January 29, 2020 29 Jan'20

  NHS suffers fewer ransomware attacks, but threat persists

  Ransomware attacks against the NHS have tapered off dramatically, according to statistics obtained under FoI legislation, but this does not mean the threat has diminished

• January 29, 2020 29 Jan'20

  Apple posts record-breaking quarter, but prepares for Coronavirus impact

  The Coronavirus outbreak is having a direct impact on Apple’s supply chain and its Chinese retail stores and channel partners

• January 28, 2020 28 Jan'20

  Fintechs fear deepfake fraud

  New research reveals the majority of CISOs working in the financial services sector are increasingly concerned about the potential use of deepfakes

• January 28, 2020 28 Jan'20

  Met Police could deploy facial recognition against protesters

  Live facial recognition will be rolled out operationally by the Met Police, but police monitoring group Netpol believes it will hamper people’s ability to exercise their rights to protest

• January 28, 2020 28 Jan'20

  Organisations losing control of cloud data

  Data is more widely dispersed in enterprise clouds than most organisations think, and as a result they are at risk of losing control of it, according to a report

• January 28, 2020 28 Jan'20

  Data privacy benefits outweigh spend, says Cisco

  Cisco’s 2020 data privacy study shows organisations can generate substantial returns on their data privacy and protection spending

• January 27, 2020 27 Jan'20

  Interpol uncovers cyber crime operation in Indonesia

  An Interpol-coordinated cyber operation leads to the arrest of three people in Indonesia who allegedly used a JavaScript-sniffer malware to steal payment card details of online shoppers

• January 27, 2020 27 Jan'20

  UK in catch-22 decision over Huawei security

  The UK’s final decision on whether to permit mobile operators to use Huawei equipment is expected imminently, and its decision will have ramifications far beyond the technology sphere

• January 27, 2020 27 Jan'20

  Government tightens law around IoT cyber security

  New legislation developed by DCMS and the NCSC may help guarantee the security and privacy of users of consumer IoT devices

• January 27, 2020 27 Jan'20

  Met Police to launch facial recognition operationally

  Despite the continuing controversy around its use, the Metropolitan Police will be deploying live facial recognition across the capital

• January 27, 2020 27 Jan'20

  SANS Institute calls on Manchester security pros

  Manchester will play host to a week-long cyber security training event during February

• January 24, 2020 24 Jan'20

  Cyber gangsters publish staff passwords following ‘Sodinokibi’ attack on car parts group Gedia

  Sodinokibi hacking group steps up pressure on German automotive manufacturer by publishing information, including the CEO’s computer password and sensitive details of its IT systems, on the internet

• January 24, 2020 24 Jan'20

  NHS alerted to severe vulnerabilities in GE health equipment

  A series of vulnerabilities in patient monitoring equipment manufactured by General Electric could have left patient data exposed in hospitals around the world, including the UK

• January 24, 2020 24 Jan'20

  Milan hosts Cisco’s first European security innovation unit

  Cisco has cut the ribbon on its first Cyber Security Co-Innovation Centre in Europe, at Milan’s Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum

• January 23, 2020 23 Jan'20

  Travelex hackers shut down German car parts company Gedia in massive ‘cyber attack’

  Car parts manufacturer says cyber attack will have far-reaching consequences for its business, and it has put emergency plans in place to continue deliveries

• January 23, 2020 23 Jan'20

  CISOs fear becoming the next Travelex

  Poll of security professionals by the organisers of the Infosecurity Europe trade fair highlights huge gaps in incident response capabilities

• January 23, 2020 23 Jan'20

  Seven projects funded to explore CAV security

  The winners of the Cyber Securities Feasibility Studies contest, exploring cyber security for self-driving cars, have been revealed

• January 23, 2020 23 Jan'20

  End-user security ignorance laid bare in new report

  Proofpoint’s 2020 State of the Phish report highlights an urgent need for better user training and reporting

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  Citrix releases IoC scanner for ADC and Gateway vulnerabilities

  As patches for its compromised NetScaler ADC and Gateway products begin to roll out, Citrix enlists FireEye Mandiant to develop an indicator of compromise scanner for end-users

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  Internal error left Microsoft customer service data exposed

  Customer service and support records of nearly 250 million Microsoft customers left exposed after database misconfiguration

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  Computer Misuse Act ‘crying out for reform’

  Group of campaigners says the Computer Misuse Act of 1990 risks criminalising cyber security professionals and needs reforming

• January 22, 2020 22 Jan'20

  ICO code sets out digital privacy standards for children

  The Information Commissioner’s Office has published its Age Appropriate Design Code, a set of 15 standards that online platforms must meet to protect the privacy of younger users

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  Singapore updates model AI governance framework

  Second edition of Singapore’s artificial intelligence governance framework includes new guidance, use cases and a self-assessment guide

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  5G builders test vulnerabilities in Finnish hackathon

  University hackathon puts 5G security to the test as new wireless technology’s roll-out nears

• January 21, 2020 21 Jan'20

  High-street banks face disruption three weeks after Travelex hack

  Foreign exchange services still disrupted, three weeks after Travelex received a $6m ransom demand from cyber gangsters

• January 20, 2020 20 Jan'20

  Exposed AWS buckets again implicated in multiple data leaks

  A series of data leaks in the past week have once again implicated poorly secured Amazon S3 buckets, which are supposed to be private by default

• January 20, 2020 20 Jan'20

  GDPR nets more than €100m in fines, with more to come

  Fines totalling €114m have already been collected under GDPR, and this figure will spike in 2020 if the UK regulator succeeds in imposing record fines on BA and Marriott

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  App developers sue Facebook over ‘anti-competitive conduct’

  Lawsuit is based on leaked internal Facebook documents obtained and published by Computer Weekly and NBC last year

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  NCSC makes final call for entries to CyberFirst Girls contest

  Entry to the National Cyber Security Centre’s CyberFirst Girls 2020 competition is about to close

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  Emotet reinvigorated after Christmas break

  The high-volume Emotet campaign is back in action after the Christmas holidays, and is just as dangerous as ever

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  CAA debuts aviation cyber security assurance scheme

  Civil Aviation Authority and Crest announce the first companies to be accredited under the CAA’s new cyber security oversight scheme, Assure

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  Cops take down data wholesale operation

  The Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Dutch cyber crime unit have made two arrests in an operation targeting a website that provided criminals with access to billions of personal credentials

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  Australian wildfires take toll on telco networks

  Major telco networks in Australia were disrupted by power cuts resulting from devastating bushfires, raising questions about the resilience of the country’s communications infrastructure

• January 16, 2020 16 Jan'20

  UK’s phone and internet bulk data surveillance unlawful, says EU court opinion

  The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice issues legal opinions finding that the UK, French and Belgian bulk surveillance regimes are unlawful

• January 16, 2020 16 Jan'20

  A quarter of users will fall for basic phishing attacks

  Phishing emails that appear to be security alerts are the most effective method of compromise, says KnowBe4

• January 16, 2020 16 Jan'20

  Thailand gets ready for data protection law

  Thailand’s personal data protection law comes into effect in May 2020, subjecting organisations to new rules that safeguard the personal data of individuals

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  Lorca announces new cohort of 20 security scaleups

  20 scaleups will focus their attention on automation, zero trust and supply chain security

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  Travelex warns customers to be alert to phone scams

  Under-fire forex provider warns that criminals may try to take advantage of its predicament to scam customers

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  Last Windows 7 patch updates critical remote desktop flaw

  It is no longer being supported with free updates, but Microsoft's final Patch Tuesday for Windows 7 fixes a major flaw in the 10-year-old operating system

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  LGBTQ+ social app Grindr accused of breaching GDPR

  Norwegian Consumer Council files complaints about LGBTQ+ social networking app, alleging it is in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  NSA Windows 10 security disclosure raises questions

  In an unprecedented move, the NSA has got out in front of a critical cryptographic flaw in Windows 10, but in doing so has raised multiple questions

• January 15, 2020 15 Jan'20

  Threat landscape grew in complexity in 2019, no respite in sight

  Check Point’s annual state of security report shares some 2019 trends and looks ahead to 2020

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Two-thirds of UK healthcare organisations breached last year

  The majority of healthcare organisations in the UK experienced a cyber security incident during 2019, with almost half the result of viruses and malware introduced on third party devices

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Researchers find cryptojacker hiding in Wav audio file

  Victim network was compromised by obfuscated malware hiding a Monero cryptominer, lurking inside a Wav audio file

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Cyber criminals spend three months lurking in target networks

  Cyber criminals are spending longer hiding in target networks before launching their attacks, as more organised groups turn to business disruption to achieve their objectives

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Turn the end of Windows 7 support into a security advantage

  CISOs can take advantage of the end of support for Microsoft Windows 7 by making the case for more investment in cyber security

• January 14, 2020 14 Jan'20

  Citrix NetScaler vulnerabilities won’t be patched until end of January

  Some vulnerabilities identified in Citrix products will not be fully patched until the end of January 2020

• January 13, 2020 13 Jan'20

  Sextortion campaign hits Nest home security cameras

  Owners of Google’s Nest home security cameras are being targeted in a sextortion scam by criminals playing on fears over IoT security

• January 13, 2020 13 Jan'20

  Travelex to begin restoring foreign exchange services two weeks after ‘Sodinokibi’ attack

  Travelex says it is making “good progress” in its recovery and is to begin restoring electronic foreign exchange services, but is silent about whether it has agreed to pay hackers a $6m ransom to decrypt computer files

• January 10, 2020 10 Jan'20

  National Lottery hacker jailed for nine months

  Small-time cyber criminal jailed for his role in a cyber attack on lottery operator Camelot that netted him just £5

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Travelex hackers threaten to sell credit card data on dark web

  Sodinokibi cyber gangsters have threatened to sell Travelex customers’ private data on a Russian underground cyber crime forum if it fails to pay a $6m ransom

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Retail group Dixons Carphone fined £500,000 over data breach

  Dixons Carphone receives maximum possible pre-GDPR fine from the ICO following a 2018 data breach

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Don’t become the next Travelex: Get ready for ransomware

  With Travelex’s IT still in disarray and banks and travellers left without access to funds more than a week after it was hit by a ransomware attack, we ask what others can learn from the foreign exchange services company’s response to the incident

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  PowerTrick backdoor used to target high-value businesses

  Threat actors are exploiting a PowerShell-based backdoor called PowerTrick to go after high-value targets, warns SentinelLabs

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  New GDPR service aims to ease compliance challenges

  Security consultants claim their software platform will address a pressing need for an effective and efficient means of complying with data protection rules

• January 08, 2020 08 Jan'20

  Half of UK citizens want tighter data regulations

  Over 50% of UK citizens believe the gathering and use of personal data should be subject to more stringent government oversight, according to Fujitsu

• January 08, 2020 08 Jan'20

  TikTok video-sharing app left user data exposed

  Check Point uncovered serious vulnerabilities in the TikTok video-sharing app that left users exposed

• January 07, 2020 07 Jan'20

  Facebook to ban deepfake videos

  New policy closes some loopholes around misinformation, but seems to leave others wide open

• January 07, 2020 07 Jan'20

  Broadcom flogs Symantec enterprise security unit to Accenture

  Acquisition is set to make Accenture a global leader in managed cyber security services

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  Cyber gangsters demand payment from Travelex after ‘Sodinokibi’ attack

  Cyber criminals are demanding payment to decrypt Travelex’s computer files after a devastating malware attack. New questions have been raised about the security of Travelex’s computer network after it emerged the company waited eight months to patch...

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  Iran likely to hit back with cyber attacks, security experts warn

  The possibility of cyber attack by threat groups acting on behalf of the Iranian government has dramatically increased following US actions in Iraq

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  UK cyber security boss Ciaran Martin to step down

  NCSC chief Ciaran Martin will leave his post in the summer of 2020

• January 03, 2020 03 Jan'20

  Government injects £40m into single sign-on NHS programme

  The government has put aside funding to speed up login times. Additional funding has been announced to support adult digital health services

• January 03, 2020 03 Jan'20

  Survey about Swedish people’s attitude to the internet reveals growing distrust of social media

  Swedish citizens are becoming more concerned about the activities of social media companies and are reducing their online interaction with them as a result

• January 03, 2020 03 Jan'20

  Suspected ransomware attack causes worldwide disruption for Travelex

  Travelex switches off computer systems and resorts to cash-only currency sales after malware attack. Insiders claim the currency exchange chain has been hit by ransomware which has left critical files containing customer data encrypted

• January 03, 2020 03 Jan'20

  How Darktrace is riding the AI boom

  Cyber security firm known for its artificial intelligence smarts doubled its headcount across Asia-Pacific last year in key markets including Australia and South Korea

• January 02, 2020 02 Jan'20

  Google Health pioneers breast cancer AI scanning

  An algorithm developed by Google Health promises to reduce the likelihood of patients being wrongly diagnosed, and improve abnormal mammogram scan identification

• January 02, 2020 02 Jan'20

  California’s CCPA an opportunity for security industry to do better

  California’s consumer protection and data privacy laws came into effect on 1 January 2020, and present a golden opportunity for the cyber security practitioners

• January 02, 2020 02 Jan'20

  Interview: Why we need a GDPR for dead people

  Back in 2000, there was no Facebook or Twitter and the smartphone revolution had not begun. Today, digital identities outlive the people they represent

• December 31, 2019 31 Dec'19

  Top 10 investigative stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 investigative stories of 2019

• December 31, 2019 31 Dec'19

  Top 10 ASEAN IT stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 ASEAN IT stories of 2019

• December 30, 2019 30 Dec'19

  Top 10 enterprise IT in the Benelux region stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top enterprise IT stories from the Benelux region over the past year

• December 24, 2019 24 Dec'19

  Top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

• December 24, 2019 24 Dec'19

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 cyber crime stories of 2019

• December 23, 2019 23 Dec'19

  Top 10 cyber security stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 cyber security stories of 2019

• December 20, 2019 20 Dec'19

  Finnish government supports local authorities in cyber security initiative

  The Finnish government has committed resources to a cyber security project aimed at local authorities

• December 19, 2019 19 Dec'19

  EU court opinion finds EU-US data transfers lawful but raises questions over Privacy Shield

  The Advocate General of the European Court says standard contractual clauses are lawful, but raises questions over the impact of US surveillance on the legality of Privacy Shield

• December 19, 2019 19 Dec'19

  Top 10 artificial intelligence stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 artificial intelligence stories of 2019

• December 18, 2019 18 Dec'19

  Facebook: Legality of EU-US data sharing to be decided by Court of Justice

  The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice will give an opinion on the legality of EU-US data transfers that could have major implications for big tech companies and US government mass surveillance practices