News

Privacy and data protection

March 21, 2012 21 Mar'12
Half of education institutions victims of mobile IT theft

According to research, 45% of UK education establishments claim to have had mobile IT equipment stolen during the last three years.
March 19, 2012 19 Mar'12
UK hacktivist cases should spur business to action, says lawyer

The last of four alleged UK members of hacktivist group LulzSec has appeared in Westminster magistrates court in London
March 16, 2012 16 Mar'12
SourceForge takes down Anonymous operating system

The open-source collaboration website SourceForge has taken down an Ubuntu Linux OS project purportedly affiliated with online hactivist group Anonymous, after a review by security experts
March 15, 2012 15 Mar'12
BBC cyber attacks highlight difficulty of attribution

The BBC has said it is was targeted by cyber attacks following a campaign by Iran against its Persian service, but stopped short of accusing Tehran of ordering the cyber attacks

March 13, 2012 13 Mar'12
Hackers expose weak security on Digital Playground porn site

A hacking group claims to have stolen the details of more than 70,000 users of the Digital Playground porn site
March 07, 2012 07 Mar'12
FBI informer Hector Xavier Monsegur aids in arrest of LulzSec hackers

Authorities in the US, UK and Republic of Ireland have arrested seven suspected members of hacktivist group LulzSec, including Hector Xavier Monsegur, who helped investigators
March 01, 2012 01 Mar'12
RSA 2012: IT security experts urge enterprises to ban smartphone BYOD schemes

Enterprises should ban employees from using their own smartphones for work, a panel of IT security practitioners told the RSA Conference 2012
February 29, 2012 29 Feb'12
IT departments risk losing responsibility for IT security

IT security professionals can no longer take it for granted that IT security will continue as part of the IT function
February 23, 2012 23 Feb'12
OSSIM update enables cyber threat intelligence sharing

The latest update to the Open Source Security Information Management (OSSIM) base system includes a mechanism for sharing cyber threat intelligence.
February 21, 2012 21 Feb'12
Google bypassed IE too, says Microsoft

Microsoft has accused Google of bypassing the privacy settings of Internet Explorer users after Safari faux pas

February 17, 2012 17 Feb'12
UK regulator PhonepayPlus fines Dutch typosquatting companies

UK phone regulator PhonepayPlus fines two Dutch firms £100,000 for exploiting well-known websites Wikipedia, Twitter and YouTube
February 14, 2012 14 Feb'12
President of European Parliament critical of Acta

After a weekend of public protests against the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement (Acta), the president of the European Parliament has added his voice to those of critcs.
February 07, 2012 07 Feb'12
UK to take part in weekend protests against Acta

Protests against the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement (Acta) have been organised across Europe, with most set to take place on 11 February.
February 06, 2012 06 Feb'12
FBI investigates Anonymous intercept of call with Scotland Yard

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into how a conference call with Scotland Yard was intercepted by a member of the activist hacking group Anonymous.
February 01, 2012 01 Feb'12
Fewer than a third of UK organisations plan mobile security projects

Despite the media hype around the adoption of mobile technologies and the need to secure them, relatively few UK organisations are planning mobile security projects, a survey has revealed
January 30, 2012 30 Jan'12
ICO fines Midlothian Council £140K for data breaches

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has imposed its highest penalty yet of £140,000 on Midlothian Council for breaching personal data
January 30, 2012 30 Jan'12
MEP quits as thousands protest ACTA signing

A European MP has resigned after thousands of people in Poland protested against the international anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA)
January 25, 2012 25 Jan'12
EC publishes proposed data protection reforms

European Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, has unveiled the new European data privacy framework that includes new regulation.
January 23, 2012 23 Jan'12
Advocacy group La Quadrature du Net rallies opposition to ACTA

As controversial anti-piracy legislation stalls in the US, a European group of free internet supporters, La Quadrature du Net, calls for a halt to similar legislation in the European Union.
January 16, 2012 16 Jan'12
Google mortified after staff access competitor's database

Google said it is mortified after people working on a project in Kenya were found to have stolen the details of a competitor’s customers and used them to sell its own products.
January 16, 2012 16 Jan'12
Rupert Murdoch attacks Barack Obama over online piracy legislation

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has accused Barack Obama's administration of siding with "Silicon Valley paymasters" as two anti-piracy bills go through US Congress.
January 13, 2012 13 Jan'12
NHS Trust to appeal £375k data loss penalty

An NHS Trust is to appeal against a proposed monetary penalty of £375,000 after after patient records were stolen from a hospital and sold on eBay.
January 06, 2012 06 Jan'12
Ramnit worm steals 45,000 Facebook passwords

A computer worm has begun targeting Facebook accounts and has stolen at least 45,000 login credentials from users, say security researchers.
January 03, 2012 03 Jan'12
Hacktivists plan to use satellites to by-pass internet censorship

Hacker activists plan to launch communication satellites to overcome the threat of internet censorship.
December 29, 2011 29 Dec'11
Emerging 2012 security trends demand information security policy changes

2012 security trends involving cookies, fines, devices and threats will demand more skills -- and a little finesse -- from security professionals.
December 12, 2011 12 Dec'11
Cloud leaves many firewalls wanting – but could automation prove the silver bullet?

Most companies rely on firewalls, but the IT landscape is changing and so must approaches to security. Is there a silver bullet?
December 08, 2011 08 Dec'11
Adobe to release out-of-cycle patch for latest vulnerability

Adobe has issued a security advisory about a newly discovered and still unpatched vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat which is being used in "limited, targeted attacks in the wild".
December 05, 2011 05 Dec'11
Concerned about tablet security issues? Some are, others not so much

Users love their tablets, but security pros are concerned about tablet security issues. However, though tablets bring new threats, not everyone is ringing the alarm.
December 05, 2011 05 Dec'11
One in four IT security staff abuse admin rights, survey shows

At least one in four IT security staff use their privileged login rights to look at confidential information, a survey has revealed.
November 30, 2011 30 Nov'11
United Nations Development Programme investigates hacking claims

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is investigating claims from hacker group Team Poison that it extracted over 100 e-mail addresses and login details belonging to UN staff.
November 17, 2011 17 Nov'11
Forensics key to effective info security, says E&Y

Intelligence-led security strategies are the most effective in eliminating vulnerabilities and preventing IP theft through enabling informed change, says consultancy firm Ernst & Young.
November 17, 2011 17 Nov'11
IT security not always part of cloud decision, says IDC

Cloud adoption is outstripping security concerns, says Eric Domage, programme manager for IDC in Europe.
November 11, 2011 11 Nov'11
EDF fined £1.3m for hacking into Greenpeace computers

A Paris court has fined French energy firm EDF £1.3m for hacking into Greenpeace computers to find out about the environmental group’s plans to block four planned nuclear power plants in the UK.
November 07, 2011 07 Nov'11
Analysis: Intelligence key to security business case

Information security is becoming an increasingly important part of any business as the value of information assets continually grow, as do the threats from cyber crime and espionage.
November 01, 2011 01 Nov'11
MoD calls on academics, industry and inventors to pitch cyber security ideas

The Ministry of Defence is calling for innovative solutions from academia and industry to protect and secure UK interests in cyberspace.
November 01, 2011 01 Nov'11
Hague calls for collaboration to realise full potential of cyberspace

It is increasingly clear that countries with weak cyber defences and capabilities will find themselves at a serious strategic disadvantage given the rise of state-sponsored cyber attacks, according to foreign secretary William Hague.
October 31, 2011 31 Oct'11
Japan may be facing sustained cyber attack

Japan's mapping agency is the latest in a series of government agencies to be targeted by hackers, raising fears that the breaches are part of a series of sustained attacks.
October 31, 2011 31 Oct'11
Facebook admits to 600,000 cyber attacks a day

Facebook has revealed that every 24 hours it receives around 600,000 logins to the social networking website from impostors attempting to access users' messages, photos and other personal information.
October 28, 2011 28 Oct'11
UK security strategy draws on growing expertise across Whitehall

The UK's soon-to-be-released cyber security strategy includes input from policy makers across government, says Nigel Harrison of the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA).
May 06, 2011 06 May'11
Hackers plan third attack on Sony

Hackers are planning a third attack on Sony in retaliation for its handling of the PlayStation Network and Online Entertainment services data breaches, according to US reports.
April 13, 2011 13 Apr'11
Infosec 2011: Charity sector shows the way to balance budget and security

Tackling security project by project is an effective way of securing data on a limited budget, says Matt Holland, head of information security at children's charity NSPCC.
April 05, 2011 05 Apr'11
City of York falls foul of data protection act following printer mix-up

The City of York Council has fallen foul of the Data Protection Act after having accidentally disclosed personal data following a printer mix-up.
April 04, 2011 04 Apr'11
RSA discloses phishing-attack data breach details

RSA, the security division of EMC, has revealed the firm's data breach in mid March was the result of a spear phishing attack. The spear phishing attack exploited an Adobe Flash vulnerability that was unpatched at the time.
March 28, 2011 28 Mar'11
Businesses spend over £600k a week on data security abroad

Companies are spending up to £624,000 a week to secure their most sensitive business data abroad, a study has revealed.
March 23, 2011 23 Mar'11
Budget 2011: UK public worried spending cuts will impact data security

A large proportion of the UK public is worried that government spending cuts will have a negative effect on data security, a survey has revealed.
March 17, 2011 17 Mar'11
Ban threat looms for Blackberry services as India demand corporate data access

India could block Research in Motion (RIM) from 31 March 2011 after government officials expressed dissatisfaction with access to Blackberry services.
January 28, 2011 28 Jan'11
SMEs still lack data backup

Many small business lack data recovery plans, despite a recent uptake in cloud adoption, according to a survey.
January 26, 2011 26 Jan'11
Cybercriminals target data in transit

Cybercriminals are shifting away from basic "smash and grab" attacks targeting stored data to more complex methods of data harvesting in transit, security research reveals.
January 12, 2011 12 Jan'11
Government departments criticised over data sharing mistake

Three government agencies have been criticised over a data sharing mistake that led to the wrongful disclosure of a woman's personal and financial information.
June 16, 2008 16 Jun'08
Gary McKinnon broke into 73,000 US government computers, Lords told

Self confessed British hacker Gary McKinnon, who is fighting extradition to the US, broke into more than 73,000 US government computers, including those of the US Army, Navy and Nasa, and deleted critical data, the House of Lords heard today.