News

Privacy and data protection

• April 30, 2025 30 Apr'25

  AI in national security raises proportionality and privacy concerns

  AI could enable investigations to cover far more individuals than was ever previously possible, which is why oversight is needed

• April 25, 2025 25 Apr'25

  M&S suspends all online sales as cyber attack worsens

  M&S shuts down online sales as it works to contain and mitigate a severe cyber attack on its systems

• April 22, 2025 22 Apr'25

  Ofcom bans leasing of Global Titles to crackdown on spoofing

  Telco regulator Ofcom is cracking down on a loophole being exploited by cyber criminals to access sensitive mobile data

• April 22, 2025 22 Apr'25

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal has no power to award costs against PSNI over evidence failures

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal judges have called for the Home Secretary to step in after finding they have no powers to award costs against government bodies that fail to disclose evidence

• April 17, 2025 17 Apr'25

  Standard Chartered grounds AI ambitions in data governance

  The bank’s group chief data officer, Mohammed Rahim, outlines how the bank is modernising its data infrastructure and governance practices to support its AI initiatives

• April 16, 2025 16 Apr'25

  Footballers object to processing of performance data

  Football players are seeking to gain more control of their performance data through ‘stop processing’ requests, in an attempt to strike a better balance between firms’ commercial interests and the data rights of footballers

• April 15, 2025 15 Apr'25

  Hertz warns UK customers of Cleo-linked data breach

  Car hire giant Hertz reveals UK customer data was affected in a cyber incident orchestrated via a series of vulnerabilities in Cleo managed file transfer products

• April 15, 2025 15 Apr'25

  The Investigatory Powers Tribunal explained

  The Investigatory Powers Tribunal is a semi-secret judicial body that has made significant legal rulings on privacy, surveillance and the use of investigatory powers. What does it do and why is it important? 

• April 14, 2025 14 Apr'25

  Meta settles lawsuit over surveillance business model

  Meta settles lawsuit over use of personal data in targeted advertising, opening up the possibility of other UK users raising legal objections to its processing

• April 14, 2025 14 Apr'25

  Government faces claims of serious security and data protection problems in One Login digital ID

  The Government Digital Service was warned about serious cyber security and data protection problems in its flagship digital identity system, with insider claims that the data of three million users may still be at risk

• April 11, 2025 11 Apr'25

  AI surveillance towers place migrants in ‘even greater jeopardy’

  The use of autonomous surveillance towers throughout the English coast forces migrants into increasingly dangerous routes and contributes to their criminalisation

• April 11, 2025 11 Apr'25

  Met Police to deploy permanent facial recognition tech in Croydon

  The Met Police is set deploy permanent live facial recognition cameras on street furniture in Croydon from summer 2025, but local councillors say the decision – which has taken place with no community input – will further contribute the ...

• April 11, 2025 11 Apr'25

  Warranty fraud fuels hidden army of hardware hackers

  Widespread warranty fraud is not only costing companies billions but also creating a breeding ground for advanced hardware exploits, warns hardware hacker and researcher Bunnie Huang at Black Hat Asia 2025

• April 10, 2025 10 Apr'25

  Google bets on unifying security tools to ease CISO pain

  At Google Cloud Next in Las Vegas, Google launches its Unified Security platform with the goal of bringing together disparate security solutions to help cyber leaders and practitioners address their most keenly felt pain points

• April 10, 2025 10 Apr'25

  Spirit of openness helps banks get serious about stopping scams

  Recent announcements show that banks, financial services firms and IT companies are increasing efforts to curb online scams

• April 10, 2025 10 Apr'25

  Investigative reporter files legal action over police surveillance and social media monitoring

  Journalist complains to Investigatory Powers Tribunal after Northern Irish police placed him under surveillance as he investigated their handling of a high-profile death

• April 08, 2025 08 Apr'25

  NCSC issues warning over Chinese Moonshine and BadBazaar spyware

  Two spyware variants are being used to target the mobile devices of persons of interest to Chinese intelligence, including individuals in the Taiwanese, Tibetan and Uyghur communities

• April 08, 2025 08 Apr'25

  Spoofing vuln threatens security of WhatsApp Windows users

  Meta has disclosed and patched a potentially dangerous spoofing flaw in WhatsApp for Windows that could have caused big problems for unwitting users

• April 08, 2025 08 Apr'25

  Over £18m stolen from Santander UK customers in first three months of year

  Bank’s latest quarterly report on scams said over £18m was stolen from its UK customers by scammers

• April 08, 2025 08 Apr'25

  UK authority’s search for answers over deleted Julian Assange emails comes too late to retrieve data

  The Crown Prosecution Service has finally searched for information about the destruction of emails from the WikiLeaks founder’s lawyer – but too late to retrieve data about the deleted documents

• April 07, 2025 07 Apr'25

  Court rejects Home Office bid for blanket secrecy in hearings over Apple encryption case

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal rejects Home Office arguments that identifying the ‘bare details’ of legal action by Apple would damage national security, leaving open possibility of future open court hearings

• April 04, 2025 04 Apr'25

  Norway and Nordic financial sector ramps up cyber security

  Finans Norge sets up cyber security unit CTSU to support the finance sector in Norway amid increasing threats

• April 03, 2025 03 Apr'25

  Are LLM firewalls the future of AI security?

  As large language models permeate industries, experts at Black Hat Asia 2025 debate the need for LLM firewalls and explore their role in fending off emerging AI threats

• April 01, 2025 01 Apr'25

  Gmail ‘bubble’ encryption may be an S/MIME killer, says Google

  Marking the 21st anniversary of Gmail, Google is preparing to roll out an end-to-end encryption standard for its email service in hopes of democratising encryption and leaving old standards in the dust

• April 01, 2025 01 Apr'25

  Apple devices are at ‘most risk’ in UK following government ‘backdoor’ order

  Home Office refuses to answer questions from Lords over technical capability notice issued against Apple’s iCloud Advanced Data Protection encryption services

• March 31, 2025 31 Mar'25

  Reassessing UK law enforcement data adequacy

  Computer Weekly takes stock of proposed changes to the UK’s law enforcement data protection rules and how it could affect data adequacy with the European Union

• March 31, 2025 31 Mar'25

  UK law enforcement data adequacy at risk

  The UK government says reforms to police data protection rules will help to simplify law enforcement data processing, but critics argue the changes will lower protection to the point where the UK risks losing its European data adequacy

• March 27, 2025 27 Mar'25

  Research team demonstrates certified quantum randomness

  A 56-qubit trapped ion quantum computer from Quantinuum has demonstrated quantum supremacy as a random number generator

• March 26, 2025 26 Mar'25

  Advanced Software fined £3m over LockBit attack

  The ICO has issued a £3m fine to software provider Advanced in the wake of security failings that led to significant disruption to NHS customers in a ransomware attack

• March 25, 2025 25 Mar'25

  ETSI launches first post-quantum encryption standard

  European telco standards body launches its first post-quantum cryptography cyber standard, covering the security of critical data and communications

• March 25, 2025 25 Mar'25

  Scottish police hold almost no data on facial recognition use

  It is currently impossible to assess Police Scotland’s use of retrospective facial recognition for efficacy and fairness because the force does not collect meaningful information that would enable a proper evaluation

• March 25, 2025 25 Mar'25

  Tech specialist files legal claim after being refused security clearance for MI6 role

  An IT specialist has asked the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to investigate a series of hacking incidents after disclosing their social media accounts to MI6 vetting staff

• March 20, 2025 20 Mar'25

  NCSC proposes three-step plan to move to quantum-safe encryption

  The NCSC urges service providers, large organisations and critical sectors to start thinking today about how they will migrate to post-quantum cryptography over the next decade

• March 17, 2025 17 Mar'25

  PSNI’s ‘ridiculous’ withholding of evidence in spying operation delayed court hearings 

  Landmark ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal will decide whether the surveillance court can award costs against government bodies accused of unreasonable behaviour 

• March 17, 2025 17 Mar'25

  Online Safety Act measures come into effect

  Regulator Ofcom is now able to take enforcement action against platforms under the Online Safety Act if they fail to proactively safeguard against content such as terrorist or child sexual abuse material

• March 14, 2025 14 Mar'25

  Apple encryption legal challenge heard behind closed doors despite calls for public hearing

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal hearing held behind closed doors as press and civil society groups argue for open hearings

• March 14, 2025 14 Mar'25

  AI Action Summit review: Differing views cast doubt on AI’s ability to benefit whole of society

  Governments, companies and civil society groups gathered at the third global AI summit to discuss how the technology can work for the benefit of everyone in society, but experts say competing imperatives mean there is no guarantee these visions will...

• March 13, 2025 13 Mar'25

  US Congress demands UK lifts gag on Apple encryption order

  Apple and Google have told US lawmakers that they cannot tell Congress whether they have received technical capability notices from the UK

• March 12, 2025 12 Mar'25

  iPhone, iPad update fixes critical WebKit flaw

  iPhone and iPad users are advised to update their devices as Apple addresses an out-of-bounds write issue in the WebKit browser engine that appears to have been exploited in targeted cyber attacks

• March 11, 2025 11 Mar'25

  Secret London tribunal to hear appeal in Apple vs government battle over encryption

  Campaigners call for High Court hearing to be held in public as tech giant appeals against UK government order to open a backdoor into its encrypted iCloud service

• March 11, 2025 11 Mar'25

  UK government under-prepared for catastrophic cyber attack, hears PAC

  The Commons Public Accounts Committee heard government IT leaders respond to recent National Audit Office findings that the government’s cyber resilience is under par

• March 11, 2025 11 Mar'25

  Singapore IT leaders boost AI security defences

  Study reveals a surge in perceived importance of artificial intelligence for cyber security in Singapore, but declining investment in traditional measures raises concerns as sophisticated cyber attacks intensify

• March 10, 2025 10 Mar'25

  How CISOs are tackling cyber security challenges

  Security chiefs at the recent Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in Sydney share insights on navigating board communication, organisational resilience and the importance of understanding business needs

• March 07, 2025 07 Mar'25

  Managing security in the AI age

  Gartner experts offer guidance on harnessing AI’s power while mitigating its risks, from managing shadow AI to implementing security controls and policies

• March 06, 2025 06 Mar'25

  UK cyber security damaged by ‘clumsy Home Office political censorship’

  Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre secretly censors computer security guidance and drops references to encryption

• March 05, 2025 05 Mar'25

  Apple IPT appeal against backdoor encryption order is test case for bigger targets

  The Home Office decision to target Apple with an order requiring access to users’ encrypted data is widely seen as a ‘stalking horse’ for attacks against encrypted messaging services WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal

• March 04, 2025 04 Mar'25

  Aussie businesses ramp up security spending

  Australian organisations are set to spend A$6.2bn on security and risk management in 2025, a 14.4% jump from the previous year, driven by the rise of AI and a growing threat landscape

• March 03, 2025 03 Mar'25

  Singapore’s HomeTeamNS hit by ransomware attack

  The non-profit organisation suffered a ransomware attack that affected some servers containing employee and member data, prompting an investigation and enhanced security measures

• February 26, 2025 26 Feb'25

  US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard probes UK demand for Apple’s encrypted data

  A secret order issued by the UK against Apple would be a ‘clear and egregious violation’ if it provides back door access to Americans’ encrypted data, says US director of national intelligence

• February 26, 2025 26 Feb'25

  CISOs spending more on insider risk

  Insider risk management budgets have more than doubled in the past 12 months and look set to grow further still in 2025, according to a report