News

Regulatory compliance and standard requirements

• August 02, 2021 02 Aug'21

  Government publishes second version of digital identity trust framework

  The second iteration of the framework, still in alpha version, sets out how organisations can become certified digital identity service providers

• July 29, 2021 29 Jul'21

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal finds UK spy agencies unlawfully collected personal data

  Campaign groups Privacy International and Liberty are gearing up to bring further legal action after a court found that UK spy agencies unlawfully collected phone and internet records

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  Almost half unaware of GP data-sharing plans

  Around half of adults in England – approximately 20 million people – remain unaware of the scope of the NHS GPDPR programme, prompting calls for a public education campaign

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  ICO ends its involvement in dispute between NatWest Bank and data breach whistleblower

  The Information Commissioner’s Office has ended its involvement in a dispute between a data breach whistleblower and NatWest bank

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  TikTok sets up cyber security hub in Dublin

  Dublin-based cyber centre will oversee the security of TikTok’s users across Europe

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  How IBM is solving the data privacy problem

  IBM’s fully homomorphic encryption technology lets enterprises apply analytics and machine learning to encrypted data without compromising data privacy

• July 25, 2021 25 Jul'21

  OAIC: Uber failed to protect personal data of Australians

  Uber did not take reasonable steps to protect Australians’ personal information from unauthorised access, says Australia’s national privacy watchdog

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Respect in Security challenges abuse and harassment in cyber

  With around a third of cyber pros saying they have personally experienced harassment at work or online, a new initiative is urging organisations to pledge their support to help free the community from the scourge of abuse. We met its founders

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  France’s Macron among alleged Pegasus targets

  Data relating to devices used by French president Emmanuel Macron and the head of the World Health Organization, among others, has been uncovered in a dataset linked to government use of spyware

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  NHS Digital tightens rules for GPDPR data scrape

  The proposed collection of patient data held by GPs will now only commence when three key criteria have been fulfilled, says NHS Digital

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  Privacy Shield: One year on and companies are still grappling for answers

  Activist lawyer Max Schrems and Eduardo Ustaran, partner at Hogan Lovells, look for common ground in a problem with no easy answers

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  Macquarie Data Centres to build Sydney North facility

  Macquarie Data Centres’ latest 32MW facility will come with a cyber security centre that monitors and manages cyber security events

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  Lawyers take EncroChat hacking operation to French supreme court

  Lawyers head to French supreme court after appeals court finds EnroChat inception legal under French law

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  Privacy Shield: US surveillance law reforms essential for EU-US data, says EU parliamentary study

  EU Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs study calls for major reforms of US spying laws to enable an EU-US data-sharing agreement to replace Privacy Shield

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  Singapore to invest S$50m in ‘digital trust’ capabilities

  The Singapore government is pumping in S$50m to bolster research in technologies that will foster digital trust in areas such as privacy protection and identity management

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Regional cyber clusters score £700k of funding

  DCMS has awarded £700,000 of funding to a network of 20 regional cyber clusters

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Secureworks sets up in EU datacentre for XDR services

  New datacentre location helps Secureworks’ customers meet EU data residency requirements

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  UK Cyber Security Council calls for new push on training

  Too many companies have cut back on security training and development during the pandemic, says UK Cyber Security Council

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Met Police seize £180m worth of Bitcoin

  The largest ever seizure of cryptocurrency in the UK comes just weeks after a previous multi-million pound confiscation, as law enforcement clamps down on money laundering

• July 12, 2021 12 Jul'21

  Kaseya VSA services coming online after week-long outage

  Kaseya has successfully deployed a patch to its ransomware-hit VSA product as per a revised schedule, and customers are beginning to come back online

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  US government given permission to appeal UK’s decision to not extradite Julian Assange

  US offers assurances that Assange could serve time in his home country of Australia if convicted

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  ICO to probe Hancock over private email use

  Former health secretary faces an investigation by the UK’s data protection watchdog over his use of private email to conduct government business

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  How the UK Cyber Security Council plans to professionalise security

  As chair of the new UK Cyber Security Council, Claudia Natanson is in a superb position to develop professional standards in IT security and she intends to fundamentally reimagine what a security job actually is

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Cyber insurance costs up by a third

  The frequency and severity of ransomware attacks is a leading factor behind a substantial increase in the cost of obtaining cyber security insurance

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  BA reaches settlement in data breach group action

  A group action against BA following its 2018 data breach has been successfully settled

• July 03, 2021 03 Jul'21

  Berlin court finds EncroChat intercept evidence cannot be used in criminal trials

  In a major setback for police hacking operations, Berlin’s regional court has decided that intercepted data from the EncroChat phone network should not be used in criminal prosecutions

• July 02, 2021 02 Jul'21

  Cyber attackers up the ante on embattled IT teams

  Opportunistic threat actors are pouncing on embattled IT teams that are under pressure to expand remote work arrangements

• July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21

  US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launches ransomware assessment tool

  Newly launched service will help US organisations understand how prepared they are to deal with a ransomware attack

• July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21

  Nominations open for 2021 Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards

  Nominations are now open for this year’s edition of the Unsung Heroes Awards for cyber professionals and educators

• June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21

  Half of mobile phones sold in the UK at risk of security issues

  Lengthy mobile phone contracts leave buyers at risk of their devices losing support for security updates

• June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21

  LinkedIn denies exposure of 700 million user records is a data breach

  Data relating to 700 million users of the LinkedIn networking platform has appeared for sale, but the firm says it is the victim of data scraping, not a security breach

• June 29, 2021 29 Jun'21

  UK Cyber Security Council launches inaugural initiatives

  Security association seeks to determine terms of reference for committees to oversee standards and ethics, and qualifications and careers in the cyber sector

• June 29, 2021 29 Jun'21

  EU recognises UK data protection adequacy but warns against divergence

  The European Commission has granted the UK data adequacy, allowing data sharing between the EU and the UK, but warns it may yet be revoked

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  Insurers unprepared for challenges of underwriting ransomware

  RUSI think tank calls for an industry-wide reset amid intense challenges for providers of cyber security insurance

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  UK’s FCA bans crypto exchange Binance as crackdown spreads

  Ban on Binance Markets comes amid a wider global crackdown on the largely unregulated global market for cryptocurrencies and related assets.

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  HMRC-branded phishing scams surge despite protections

  The number of HMRC-branded phishing scams surged 87% in the past 12 months, according to latest revealed figures

• June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21

  NCSC CEO: UK-Ireland collaboration crucial to stop cyber threats

  Speaking at a conference in Dublin, NCSC Lindy Cameron is highlighting the importance of continued collaboration between the UK and Ireland to protect shared interests and counter security threats

• June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21

  CMA to probe Amazon and Google over fake reviews

  The CMA has opened an investigation into Amazon and Google over possible breaches of consumer protection law

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Google hands third-party cookies a stay of execution

  Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox initiative – which will see third-party cookies phased out in the Chrome web browser – has been pushed back to 2023

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Revealed: Crypto platform’s role in Cl0p ransomware raid

  Crypto infrastructure provider Binance provided assistance to law enforcement after finding its exchange was being used by cyber criminals to launder their ransomware profits

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  EncroChat investigators had access to decryption ‘master key’, claim lawyers

  Defence lawyers claim that French investigators compromised the encryption of EncroChat and were able to decrypt messages from servers in a French datacentre

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Make ransomware payments illegal, say 79% of cyber pros

  Report produced for MSSP Talion claims overwhelming support for the criminalisation of ransomware payments

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  City of York picks Barracuda Networks for data protection

  York Council needed to refresh its backup service to bring new security protections after it went ‘all-in’ on Microsoft Office 365

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  European Union to set up new cyber response unit

  Proposed Joint Cyber Unit will tackle a rising number of serious incidents impacting public services, businesses and citizens of the EU

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  Openness can protect Dutch companies against ransomware

  Dutch businesses that suffer ransomware attacks need to be more open about it, if this growing problem is to be brought under control

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  SonicWall sees 226.3 million ransomware attack attempts this year

  SonicWall detected 226.3 million attempted ransomware attacks between January and May 2021, more than double the number seen in the same period last year

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  Innova and RISE drive node development in Sweden

  Swedish cyber security project, National Node, opens its doors to the country’s security firms

• June 18, 2021 18 Jun'21

  ICO issues guidance on facial recognition in public spaces

  Information commissioner’s concern over the problematic use of facial recognition in public spaces has prompted her to publish official guidance on its deployment, while civil society calls for an outright ban

• June 18, 2021 18 Jun'21

  Lorca Ignite programme targets breakout cyber talent

  Six of the most successful companies to have come through Lorca’s existing accelerators are being inducted into an intensive programme

• June 17, 2021 17 Jun'21

  Biden tackles Putin on ransomware at Geneva summit

  Discussions between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin on cyber crime appear to have been somewhat positive, but the path ahead remains unclear

• June 16, 2021 16 Jun'21

  Organisations cannot rely on cyber insurance to cover losses

  Ransomware attacks have become a big driver of cyber insurance claims, but insurance must not be relied upon as a failsafe, says a report

• June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21

  NHS Test and Trace picks Risk Ledger to secure supply chain

  Risk Ledger’s technology promises ‘unparalleled’ visibility into NHS Test and Trace’s supply chain

• June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21

  Privacy pro salaries rise throughout pandemic, but at a cost

  Data from the IAPP’s latest salary survey reveals some insight into how the pandemic impacted the privacy profession

• June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21

  The Security Interviews: How to build a government model to ‘hack for good’

  Kyle Hanslovan started Huntress to give back after a career in the intelligence sector. After US authorities took action to help people hit by the Microsoft Exchange attacks, we discussed how governments can ‘hack for good’

• June 14, 2021 14 Jun'21

  G7 commits to action on ransomware, digital privacy

  The G7 urges Russia to do more to hold criminal ransomware gangs operating from within its borders to account as it commits to more action on the issue

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  FBI planned a sting against An0m cryptophone users over drinks with Australian investigators

  Australian Federal Police and the FBI came up with the idea over drinks: build a cryptophone network with a built-in backdoor and sell it to crime gangs around the world

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  CMA secures commitments from Google on future of cookies

  The Competition and Markets Authority is opening a consultation on commitments offered to it by Google to ensure its Privacy Sandbox proposals do not harm digital advertising markets

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  UK promises tougher line on cyber crime

  Speaking ahead of the G7 Summit, foreign secretary Dominic Raab says the UK is ready to take on cyber criminals and other malicious actors wherever they may be

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  Australia names ‘strategic’ datacentre operators

  Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency certifies Macquarie Telecom, Canberra Data Centres and Australian Data Centres as strategic operators for hosting government data

• June 10, 2021 10 Jun'21

  Australian organisations face heightened cyber attacks

  Nearly three in four Australian organisations experienced cyber attacks that largely resulted from a growing remote workforce in 2020

• June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21

  FBI arrests distributors accused of selling An0m encrypted phones to crime groups

  Working with overseas law enforcement, the FBI has arrested eight people and named a further 13 accused of distributing An0m phones to organised crime groups

• June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21

  RSA spins out fraud and risk unit as Outseer

  RSA Security is transitioning its fraud and risk intelligence work into a new business to be called Outseer

• June 08, 2021 08 Jun'21

  NHS Digital delays data collection plans until September

  NHS Digital has postponed its proposed collection of GP data for two months, to allow more time for the public to understand the process and opt out if wanted

• June 08, 2021 08 Jun'21

  National data guardian calls for dialogue on NHS Digital GP plans

  The UK’s national data guardian says it is important the public has clarity on how their confidential medical information will be used and kept secure under NHS data-sharing plans

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  Police raids around world after investigators crack An0m cryptophone app in major hacking operation

  Police in 16 countries carried out raids on after Australian Police and the FBI cracked an encrypted An0M communications network used by crime groups

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  EU privacy chief investigates use of US cloud services

  Use of Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud services by public sector bodies in the European Union is being scrutinised by the bloc’s privacy watchdog

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  Updated standard contractual clauses will provide ‘legal certainty’ for transfer of data

  Organisations have 18 months to update data transfer agreements, known as standard contractual clauses, or SCCs, to continue sharing data outside the European Union

• June 03, 2021 03 Jun'21

  Norway’s auditor general lifts lid on energy industry’s cyber security risks

  Auditor General’s Office questions the security posture of Norway’s energy industry

• June 03, 2021 03 Jun'21

  Tories fined over email data protection breaches

  The Conservative Party broke the law by failing to properly keep records of who had unsubscribed from its mailing list

• June 01, 2021 01 Jun'21

  Exagrid pays $2.6m to Conti ransomware attackers

  Backup appliance specialist hit by Conti ransomware in May with cyber criminals downloading employee and customer data, confidential contracts and source code

• June 01, 2021 01 Jun'21

  Ex-IT manager stole over £800,000 from NHS trust

  A former senior IT manager at an Essex NHS trust has pleaded guilty to defrauding his employer out of more than £800,000

• May 28, 2021 28 May'21

  Privacy experts concerned over NHS data collection plans

  Security and data privacy experts warn NHS Digital that its data collection plans could increase risk and cause a public backlash

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  Loss of 150,000 police records made worse by management failures

  The loss of 150,000 records from a number of national policing systems was caused by a human coding error, but made worse by process and management failures

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  NGOs file complaints against Clearview AI in five countries

  Privacy and human rights organisations have asked data protection regulators in the UK, France, Austria, Italy and Greece to investigate controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI

• May 26, 2021 26 May'21

  Millions of pounds lost to crypto fraud on social media

  More than £63m has been lost nationally by victims of investment fraud via a social media platform, says Action Fraud

• May 25, 2021 25 May'21

  GCHQ bulk interception programme breached privacy rights, Strasbourg court rules

  European Court of Human Rights finds that the UK’s bulk surveillance programme breached citizens’ privacy rights

• May 25, 2021 25 May'21

  Threat of group GDPR legal action haunts CISOs

  The vast majority of security leaders questioned for a new report say they are concerned about the possibility of group legal settlements against them following a serious data breach

• May 25, 2021 25 May'21

  Industry reflects on three years of GDPR

  Looking back on 12 tumultuous months, we assess how GDPR has weathered the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, and consider what the coming year may hold for data protection

• May 24, 2021 24 May'21

  Air India is latest victim of Sita hack

  Data on millions of people who flew with Air India between 2011 and 2021 appears to have been compromised in the recent Sita supply chain attack

• May 24, 2021 24 May'21

  Dutch researchers build security software to mimic human immune system

  Software could help IT systems develop immunity to some cyber attacks in a similar way to how the body fights infection

• May 24, 2021 24 May'21

  MEPs urge European Commission to revise UK adequacy decisions

  Members of the European Parliament are calling for the European Commission to ensure EU citizens have greater privacy rights

• May 20, 2021 20 May'21

  Pandemic tech use heightens consumer privacy fears

  Report on consumer attitudes to privacy finds evidence of a “heightened sense of fear” as digital footprints expand inexorably

• May 20, 2021 20 May'21

  UK government publishes framework on automated decision-making

  The framework focuses on making the use of algorithms and automated decision-making systems within the public sector more ethical, transparent and accountable

• May 19, 2021 19 May'21

  Reports of stolen Irish health service data being leaked online

  Leaking of deeply confidential and personal information on patient healthcare marks a new low for the criminal Conti gang

• May 18, 2021 18 May'21

  Microsoft EU Data Boundary dubbed ‘smoke and mirrors’

  Data protection experts claim Microsoft’s decision to create an EU Data Boundary is a tacit admission that it routinely transfers and processes the personal data of European citizens outside the bloc

• May 18, 2021 18 May'21

  Irish High Court dismisses legal bid by Facebook over EU-US data transfers

  Latest twist in long-running legal battle sees Facebook lose legal bid to prevent the Irish Data Protection Commissioner suspending its transfer of data about European citizens to the US

• May 14, 2021 14 May'21

  Dutch police used deep learning model to predict threats to life

  Dutch police developed a deep learning model in their EncroChat investigation to predict which messages contain serious threats to life

• May 13, 2021 13 May'21

  Biden beefs up public-private security cooperation

  Joe Biden has signed a new Executive Order to harden US cyber security and government networks, with an emphasis on information sharing

• May 13, 2021 13 May'21

  Verizon DBIR underscores year of unprecedented cyber challenge

  Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report draws predictable conclusions as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt

• May 12, 2021 12 May'21

  UK government publishes Online Safety Bill draft

  Bill builds on previous commitments by the government, which has added new measures to uphold democracy and freedom of speech while making tech giants more accountable

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  Collaboration key to success of UK’s Cyber Security Council

  The founders of the UK’s Cyber Security Council have been setting out their plans to professionalise the cyber sector at the NCSC’s CyberUK 2021 event

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  Government to reform Computer Misuse Act

  Home secretary Priti Patel will explore reforming the Computer Misuse Act as calls mount for the 31-year-old law to be updated to reflect the changed online world

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  Swedish court finds ambiguities in hacked EncroChat cryptophone evidence

  Defence lawyer claims evidence obtained by hacking the EncroChat encrypted phone network has ‘no legal’ value following Swedish appeal court ruling

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack has grave consequences

  The ramifications of a major ransomware attack against a US fuel pipeline operator could spread far and wide

• May 07, 2021 07 May'21

  NCSC publishes smart city security guidelines

  Guidance for local authorities, IT and cyber professionals aims to ensure the security of connected, smart city projects

• May 07, 2021 07 May'21

  Cyber accreditation to improve legal standing of security pros

  Institute of Cyber Digital Investigations Professionals will help incident responders and cyber investigators get the professional recognition they deserve

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  Government urged to add scam protections to Online Safety Bill

  Group of organisations calls for the government to use the Online Safety Bill to protect people from cyber scams

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  Scammers accidentally reveal fake Amazon review data

  More than 13 million records relating to an organised fake review scam have been found on an unsecured ElasticSearch database, implicating hundreds of thousands of people in unethical behaviour

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  HSBC blocks £249m in UK fraud with voice biometrics

  HSBC voice recognition technology has reduced telephone banking fraud as demand for the channel increases

• May 05, 2021 05 May'21

  Why ITAM can aid IT-fuelled business recovery

  As a sense of normality returns, we look at why IT asset management is the stealth tool for clearing a path towards greater digitisation