News

Privacy and data protection

March 16, 2017 16 Mar'17
US accuses Russian spies of directing Yahoo breach

US authorities have arrested a man in Canada who has been charged alongside two Russian intelligence officers and a Russian hacker in connection with a 2014 data breach at Yahoo affecting 500 million accounts
March 13, 2017 13 Mar'17
NCSC to educate UK politicians on the cyber threat

The National Cyber Security Centre is to deliver tailored seminars for politicians on how to protect their email communications and voters’ data to defend against cyber threats to the political system
March 10, 2017 10 Mar'17
Paying ransomware attackers perpetuates attacks, says researcher

Continually evolving ransomware is among the threats organisations need to factor into their cyber defences in 2017, but only once they have taken care of the basics, says Kaspersky Lab researcher
March 08, 2017 08 Mar'17
WhatsApp, Signal, ProtonMail safe from CIA hacking tools

Top secure messaging and email apps are said to be safe from CIA hacking tools, but organisations are urged to assess their own vulnerability if the tools were to fall into the hands of cyber criminals

March 07, 2017 07 Mar'17
Retail industry steps up the fight against rising cyber threats

UK retail body BRC publishes the first of its kind step-by-step guide on how to manage cyber security threats
March 06, 2017 06 Mar'17
More than a million Gmail and Yahoo account credentials on sale

Usernames, email addresses and plaintext passwords of more than a million Yahoo and Gmail accounts are reportedly on sale on the dark web, posing a threat to corporate security
March 03, 2017 03 Mar'17
Cyber attack on Barts NHS trust exploited zero-day vulnerability

A cyber attack that forced parts of Barts NHS trust offline in January 2017 has been blamed on previously unknown malware that was able to bypass the antivirus systems, highlighting a common weakness in cyber defences
March 02, 2017 02 Mar'17
Yahoo breaches underline executive role in cyber security

Yahoo's data breaches cost its top lawyer his job, CEO Marissa Mayer millions in bonuses, and $350m off its sale price, highlighting the importance of executive involvement
February 27, 2017 27 Feb'17
Citizen Love: the story of an ordinary family's fight with the US government

Finnish documentary makers Raimo Uunila and Lauri Danska tell the behind-the-scenes story of activist Lauri Love’s battle with the US government – and the impact of the case on his family
February 27, 2017 27 Feb'17
Cyber criminals net £8bn from financial services in 2016

Organised cyber fraud gangs are turning their attention to online lenders and emerging financial services, potentially netting £8bn in 2016, a report reveals

February 27, 2017 27 Feb'17
NHS ‘mislays’ 500,000 confidential patient documents

Health service accused of a ‘cover-up’ after it came to light that more than half a million documents holding patient data were never delivered to their intended recipients
February 24, 2017 24 Feb'17
Banking malware, DDoS, ransomware and CEO fraud top UK cyber threats

Businesses need to be aware of the value of their data, how that data is likely to be attacked, and how to defend against particular attacks, says leading UK cyber cop
February 22, 2017 22 Feb'17
Beware printer helpline scam, warns NTS eCrime Team

National Trading Standards is warning consumers about a scam targeting those looking for help with printer problems
February 22, 2017 22 Feb'17
Microsoft issues critical patches but not for zero days

After missing the monthly security update for 14 February, Microsoft has issued some patches but not for zero-day vulnerabilities despite the availability of exploit code
February 17, 2017 17 Feb'17
RSAC17: Geopolitical changes driving encryption usage, survey shows

More organisations are planning to deploy encryption in response to geopolitical changes, but confidence in organisations’ ability to secure and protect encryption is low, a survey shows
February 15, 2017 15 Feb'17
RSAC17: Infosec pros must help create business-driven security, says RSA CTO

The inability to draw connections between security details and business metrics is one of the biggest challenges facing most companies, according to RSA CTO Zulfikar Ramzan
February 14, 2017 14 Feb'17
Major DDoS attacks see huge increase, says Akamai

Akamai’s State of the Internet/Security Report for the fourth quarter of 2016 finds that distributed denial of service attacks larger than 100Gbps are rapidly increasing as more IoT devices are compromised
February 08, 2017 08 Feb'17
How a Dublin court case could derail EU-US data privacy agreements

The Irish Commercial Court will consider whether privacy protection offered by standard contractual clauses for data transfers to the US from Europe is legally valid
February 08, 2017 08 Feb'17
NHS websites defaced by Tunisian Islamist hacktivists

Another series of pro-Islamic State hacktivist attacks on NHS websites has underlined the need to harden websites and keep software up to date as attackers exploit a vulnerability in WordPress
February 06, 2017 06 Feb'17
Google to appeal against order to hand over foreign emails

UK firms urged to consider the risks of non-UK cloud service providers and to encrypt data in the light of another US warrant to access emails held by a US cloud services firm on non-US servers
January 31, 2017 31 Jan'17
Data breach costs exceed 20% of revenue

The cost of data breaches topped 20% of revenue in the past year as cyber attacks became more sophisticated and defenders struggled to keep pace, the latest Cisco security report shows
January 26, 2017 26 Jan'17
Facebook ups security with Fido U2F two-factor authentication

Social media giant is enabling users to increase the security of their logins with Fido U2F USB security keys
January 26, 2017 26 Jan'17
Security spending leaving data vulnerable, study finds

Cyber breaches are increasing despite increased security spending, a study shows, highlighting that security investment decisions are not aligned with actual cyber threats
January 26, 2017 26 Jan'17
Microsoft’s cloud privacy battle may go to US Supreme Court

The US Department of Justice is considering going to the Supreme Court after an appeals court refused to revisit its July 2016 landmark ruling blocking government access to Microsoft servers in Ireland
January 20, 2017 20 Jan'17
Lords ‘deeply concerned’ about Digital Economy Bill data-sharing clauses

Digital Economy Bill comes under fire again for its data-sharing principles, this time from the House of Lords Delegated Powers Committee
January 13, 2017 13 Jan'17
Davos: Technology poses new risks to jobs, economies and society

Politicians and business leaders will discuss the risks posed by technology to jobs, political stability and cyber security at the World Economic Forum in Davos
January 12, 2017 12 Jan'17
TechUK launches framework to build public trust in the IoT

Tech sector association techUK wants to help overcome public distrust in the internet of things
January 12, 2017 12 Jan'17
Flawed GoDaddy security certificates show need for control

Vulnerabilities in digital security certificates highlight the need for organisations to be able to exercise more control over those certificates
January 10, 2017 10 Jan'17
Cyber security scare stories could sharpen focus at banks

There are continual cyber attacks on banks, and although most are repelled, there is significant room for improvement
January 05, 2017 05 Jan'17
UK youngsters unwittingly exposing private data

The UK children's commissioner has called for better support for child privacy after study shows most are unknowingly agreeing to share private data
January 04, 2017 04 Jan'17
Flight booking systems easy to hack, researchers warn

Malicious actors could infiltrate systems to alter passenger information and even cancel bookings, Chaos Communications Congress told
December 21, 2016 21 Dec'16
European court delivers blow to Snoopers’ Charter

Parts of the controversial Investigatory Powers Act relating to the bulk collection of communications data have been ruled unlawful by the European Court of Justice
December 21, 2016 21 Dec'16
Top 10 IT security stories of 2016

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 IT security stories of 2016:
December 20, 2016 20 Dec'16
Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2016

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 cyber crime stories of 2016:
December 15, 2016 15 Dec'16
Typo allowed Russian hackers to access US Democratic Party emails

Typographical mistake in an email warning of a phishing attack on the US Democrats led to thousands of private emails being accessed and published by Russian-backed hackers
December 08, 2016 08 Dec'16
PowerShell security threats greater than ever, researchers warn

Administrators should upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft PowerShell and enable extended logging and monitoring capabilities in the light of a surge in related security threats, warn researchers
December 08, 2016 08 Dec'16
More than 2,000 TalkTalk routers hijacked by Mirai botnet variant

Security researchers are urging ISPs to issue emergency patches for Marai botnet infections after 2,374 TalkTalk routers were linked in a regional botnet
December 06, 2016 06 Dec'16
UK falls below global cyber security confidence

Global confidence in ability to accurately assess cyber risk has fallen in the past year, but the UK has fallen below the global average
December 05, 2016 05 Dec'16
Top 10 ANZ enterprise IT stories of 2016

Here is a rundown of Computer Weekly’s most popular ANZ enterprise IT articles for 2016
December 02, 2016 02 Dec'16
Academics link payment card vulnerability to Tesco Bank cyber heist

UK academics uncover a vulnerability in online payment systems, which they say could have been used in the Tesco Bank cyber heist
December 01, 2016 01 Dec'16
US and UK government expand surveillance powers

The US has introduced wide new hacking powers for federal agents a day after the UK's Investigatory Powers Act firmed up bulk surveillance powers for intelligence and polices services
December 01, 2016 01 Dec'16
Mozilla and Tor issue patches for Firefox flaw exposing Tor users

Users of Tor anonymous browsing urged to update to the latest versions of relevant software to block an exploit that collects IP and MAC addresses to identify users
November 28, 2016 28 Nov'16
IBM blamed for Australian census website crash

Computer giant reportedly pays $30m to Australian government as reports are released from two inquiries into DDoS attacks on census website
November 25, 2016 25 Nov'16
One in four Wi-Fi hotspots vulnerable to attack, study finds

At least one in four Wi-Fi hotspots are open to attack, a study by Kaspersky Lab reveals
November 22, 2016 22 Nov'16
Consumer identity key to digital transformation

Customer identity and access management has benefits for consumers and service providers alike, but is key to digital transformation, says KuppingerCole
November 22, 2016 22 Nov'16
Alleged hacker Lauri Love’s ‘life will be destroyed’ under Trump regime

Supporters fear for activist Lauri Love if his extradition to face hacking charges to the US goes ahead
November 18, 2016 18 Nov'16
Three breach highlights several security issues, says (ISC)2

Customer data breaches continue to demonstrate that companies are still not treating cyber risk like every other business risk, says Adrian Davis of (ISC)2
November 18, 2016 18 Nov'16
Hackers arrested in Three mobile upgrade scam

Three men arrested in connection with mobile handset upgrade fraud enabled by unauthorised access to customer data
November 16, 2016 16 Nov'16
Digital transformation not a finite process, says Martin Kuppinger

Security, privacy and identity are key to digital transformation, which is an evolutionary process, according to Martin Kuppinger
November 16, 2016 16 Nov'16
Government data security confusing, finds PAC

A Public Accounts Committee hearing shows the government’s data and cyber security landscape is chaotic and confusing