News

Privacy and data protection

October 18, 2017 18 Oct'17
Focus needs to shift to breach impact, says McAfee researcher

Breach investigations commonly focus on the attackers and their motives, but a security researcher believes there needs to be more emphasis on business impact
October 17, 2017 17 Oct'17
RSA’s Middle East cyber security conference gains its own identity

RSA Abu Dhabi conference focuses on region’s cyber security needs as digital technology deployments expand
October 17, 2017 17 Oct'17
UK intelligence agencies ‘unlawfully’ sharing sensitive personal data, court hears

A secret court will decide whether Intelligence agencies are “unlawfully” sharing huge datasets containing sensitive information about the population with industry, government departments and overseas intelligence services.
October 16, 2017 16 Oct'17
Encryption flaw leaves every Wi-Fi network in the world wide open

A Belgian researcher has uncovered a major weakness in the WPA2 Wi-Fi security protocol that is thought to leave every Wi-Fi network in the world open to attack

October 16, 2017 16 Oct'17
Pizza Hut data breach shows need for board control

The poor handling of the data breach by fast food chain Pizza Hut shows that company boards need to take control, a London-based law firm advises
October 16, 2017 16 Oct'17
SMEs more vulnerable than ever to cyber attacks, survey shows

The biggest cyber threat to UK and US small businesses is employees’ weak passwords, as the frequency, intensity and cost of cyber attacks continue to rise, a study has revealed
October 11, 2017 11 Oct'17
Dutch government agreement increasingly focuses on IT security

The coalition government in the Netherlands has agreed its plan for the next four years, with IT security prominent
October 10, 2017 10 Oct'17
Global cyber security collaboration initiative launched in Krakow

Cyber security ecosystems around the world have launched an initiative aimed at strengthening collaboration between regional ecosystems
October 04, 2017 04 Oct'17
How Australia is tackling cyber crime

Telcos such as Telstra and industry associations in Australia are chipping in to help enterprises that are being targeted by cyber criminals with phishing and social engineering exploits
October 04, 2017 04 Oct'17
Yahoo breach affected 3 billion accounts

Yahoo’s personal data breach affected three billion user accounts, the company’s new owners have revealed

October 03, 2017 03 Oct'17
Cyber security industry key to solving skills gap

In the face of a growing shortage of cyber security skills around the world, the security industry itself needs to do more to attract people
September 28, 2017 28 Sep'17
WannaCry an example of pseudo-ransomware, says McAfee

The global WannaCry and NotPetya attacks were both examples of pseudo-ransomware, according to McAfee researchers
September 27, 2017 27 Sep'17
Global hacker botnet tops 6 million hijacked devices

A year after the first Mirai botnet attacks, the global botnet has grown, with many countries and cities unwittingly hosting large number of bot-infected devices
September 26, 2017 26 Sep'17
Mac OS passwords at risk of theft, researcher warns

Some Apple Mac users are at risk of password theft due to a zero-day vulnerability discovered in some versions of the operating system
September 25, 2017 25 Sep'17
Cage director found guilty of terrorism offence after refusing to disclose passwords

Muhammad Rabbani, international director of Cage, is convicted of an offence under the terrorism act after refusing to disclose his mobile phone PIN and laptop password under Terrorism Act
September 22, 2017 22 Sep'17
Malware hidden in CCleaner targeted tech firms

Major tech firms were targeted by malware hidden in Avast’s Piriform CCleaner software, researchers have found, leading to speculation that it may have been state-sponsored espionage attack
September 22, 2017 22 Sep'17
Nation-state actors responsible for most cyber attacks

Companies of all sizes may find themselves faced with highly capable state-sponsored cyber attacks, but steps can be taken to shore up defences
September 20, 2017 20 Sep'17
Cyber crime a significant risk to individuals and organisations

Cyber crime is still a significant risk to individuals and organisations, a report claims, with the top threats including business email compromise, ransomware, and banking and mobile malware
September 14, 2017 14 Sep'17
Government aligns data laws with GDPR

The UK government announces details of its data protection law that will align with the EU’s GDPR
September 12, 2017 12 Sep'17
Government wants to remain in EU cyber security club after Brexit

The UK government wants to maintain deep links with the European Union’s cyber security working groups following Britain’s exit from the bloc in 2019
September 08, 2017 08 Sep'17
Millions of customer records compromised in Equifax breach

Major security breach unfolded over a two-month period, and is thought to have affected 143 million customers in the US, as well as an undisclosed number of Britons and Canadians
September 05, 2017 05 Sep'17
People with non-IT backgrounds could help fill cyber security skills gap

Organisations should look to fill cyber security roles with people who are curious and have work experience rather than focusing solely on graduates
August 31, 2017 31 Aug'17
Instagram fixes API blamed for celebrity data leaks

Instagram says it has fixed the API responsible for enabling hackers to access some personal details of high-profile users of the service
August 25, 2017 25 Aug'17
Security professionals name top causes of breaches

Security professionals have named the top reasons for successful cyber attacks, which are affecting more than half of organisations
August 24, 2017 24 Aug'17
UK business welcomes government post-Brexit data sharing plan

Business has welcomed government proposals for data protection to enable unhindered data sharing with the EU after Brexit
August 22, 2017 22 Aug'17
Industrial robots a security risk, warns IOActive

Some of the most popular industrial and domestic robot brands have various vulnerabilities that could by exploited by cyber attackers, a research paper warns
August 21, 2017 21 Aug'17
NotPetya highlights cyber risk in shipping industry

Malware attack has shown that the shipping industry is vulnerable to cyber attacks, with Danish shipping giant Maersk reporting potential cost of up to $300m
August 17, 2017 17 Aug'17
UK rail passengers don’t trust on-board Wi-Fi

YouGov survey commissioned by Cobham Wireless finds UK commuters are increasingly frustrated with connectivity standards on the rail network
August 16, 2017 16 Aug'17
Hackers hit Holyrood with Westminster-style brute-force attack

The Scottish parliament has been hit by a cyber attack similar to the one that struck Westminster in June
August 11, 2017 11 Aug'17
Malicious email spikes in Q2, reports Proofpoint

Malicious email campaigns saw a spike in volume and increased variety in the second quarter of 2017, a cyber security report reveals
August 11, 2017 11 Aug'17
Russian cyber espionage group targeting hotel Wi-Fi

A Russian cyber espionage group is targeting hotel Wi-Fi networks to carry out malware infections and potentially steal credentials, researchers warn
August 10, 2017 10 Aug'17
China tests hack-proof quantum satellite communications

China has tested a prototype communication system that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to make it impossible for hackers to access
August 10, 2017 10 Aug'17
New TalkTalk fine takes total for poor data protection to £500,000

Information Commissioner’s Office fines TalkTalk for putting up to 21,000 customers’ details at risk of exposure prior to September 2014
August 10, 2017 10 Aug'17
IT pros urged to support ‘WannaCry hero’ Marcus Hutchins

Computer experts fear chilling effect on security research over US arrest of Marcus Hutchins who halted the spread of the WannaCry ransomware
August 08, 2017 08 Aug'17
NIS Directive plans show UK is serious about tackling cyber threats

UK government plans to implement the EU’s Network and Information Systems (NIS) Directive have been welcomed for assuring its commitment to cyber defence post-Brexit
August 02, 2017 02 Aug'17
Apple share price reaches record high on quarterly results

Apple’s share price rose 6% in after-hours trading to reach a record high in response to the company’s quarterly financial report
July 28, 2017 28 Jul'17
CIA hacking tools for Mac OS and Linux exposed by WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks has exposed hacking tools targeting the Mac and Linux operating systems in the latest of its series of leaks allegedly from the US Central Intelligence Agency
July 25, 2017 25 Jul'17
North Korean web users enjoy Amazon, Facebook and YouTube, report claims

Threat intelligence specialist Recorded Future claims that the North Korean elite are as plugged in to the worldwide web as any western citizen
July 25, 2017 25 Jul'17
Big data means big risk, Swedish Transport Agency leak shows

The Swedish Transport Agency exposed sensitive information by transferring its databases to a third party cloud provider without following data protection procedures
July 20, 2017 20 Jul'17
Retail data breaches still high as GDPR deadline looms

As the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation compliance deadline approaches, retail data breaches remain unacceptably high, a data threat report reveals
July 20, 2017 20 Jul'17
TSB to introduce iris scan authentication in September 2017

TSB customers will soon be able to access their mobile bank accounts through iris scanning, which is regarded as the most secure biometric authentication available
July 19, 2017 19 Jul'17
Newcastle council data leak shows need for security automation

Leak of child adoption information by Newcastle City Council resulted from accidental email attachment by employee
July 17, 2017 17 Jul'17
IBM claims breakthrough in mainframe encryption

IBM says its new mainframe ushers in a new era of data protection in response to a call to action from chief information security officers and security experts worldwide
July 14, 2017 14 Jul'17
Defence minister opens £3m cyber security centre in Gloucester

UK minister for defence procurement has opened Lockheed Martin’s job-creating cyber security centre aimed at boosting UK cyber defence capability and skills
July 14, 2017 14 Jul'17
NHS urged to spend extra cyber defence funds wisely

The NHS has been urged to invest wisely in cyber defences after the government announced plans to increase data security funding by millions of pounds in response to the Caldicott review
July 14, 2017 14 Jul'17
Australia to push ahead with decryption plans

The Australian government remains undaunted in requiring tech firms to provide access to encrypted communications in law enforcement efforts
July 13, 2017 13 Jul'17
Encryption keys too predictable, warn security researchers

Encryption keys are not as random as most people think, which means encrypting data is often not as secure as it could be, according to security researchers
July 13, 2017 13 Jul'17
Verizon denies data loss but admits potentially huge breach

Verizon has responded to reports of millions of customer records being exposed to the internet by saying no data was accessed by malicious third parties, but the incident raises thorny issues
July 04, 2017 04 Jul'17
Royal Free and Google DeepMind data sharing not compliant with DPA, ICO rules

Information Commissioner’s Office finds that the controversial NHS data-sharing deal with Google DeepMind did not fully comply with the Data Protection Act
July 04, 2017 04 Jul'17
Collaboration is key to combating cyber crime

Interpol has called for speedy and effective information-sharing between law enforcement agencies, governments, businesses and cyber security companies to counter growing cyber threats