News

Security policy and user awareness

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Stalkerware apps becoming normalised among young people

  Data in a new report appears to show that dangerous stalkerware apps are becoming normalised in younger age groups

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  (ISC)² makes ransomware education course free through 31 July

  Cyber security association is making its Professional Development Institute course on ransomware free to the general public until the end of July

• 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

  UK councils reported over 700 data breaches to ICO in 2020

  Data disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act reveals an estimated 700 data breaches were reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office by local councils last year

• 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

  NSPCC, IWF help under-18s scrub their nude photos from the web

  Report Remove tool is designed to be used by under-18s to report nude images or videos of themselves that have appeared online

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  UK SMEs lack capacity to fend off cyber attacks

  Three-quarters of UK SME leaders would not have sufficient capacity or expertise to deal with a cyber attack, according to a report

• June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21

  Parliamentary devices left in taxis, buses, trains and pubs

  Nearly 100 devices belonging to parliamentary staffers, including MPs and peers, were lost or stolen over the course of 2019 and 2020

• 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

  Cyber crooks target Amazon Prime users ahead of retail bonanza

  A surge in malicious domain registrations ahead of Amazon Prime Day indicates cyber criminals have set their sights on exploiting vulnerable shoppers

• 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

  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

  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

  Risk data shows UK energy sector most vulnerable to cyber attack

  New report compiled by insurance firm Hiscox reveals the state of cyber preparedness in the UK and beyond

• 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

  Unit 42 warns of emergent Prometheus ransomware

  Palo Alto’s Unit 42 shares intel on the emergent Prometheus ransomware gang, with apparent links to the Thanos crew

• June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21

  Microsoft fixes seven zero-days on its Patch Tuesday rounds

  Fixes for six actively-exploited – and one yet-to-be-exploited – zero-day bugs are released in the June 2021 Patch Tuesday update

• 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

  We Open Tech community supports non-binary and trans security pros

  New tech community established to advocate for the interests of non-binary people, trans and cis women, trans men, and other marginalised genders in security

• 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

  NCSC updates schools ransomware guidance amid surge

  The National Cyber Security Centre says it is dealing with a renewed surge of ransomware attacks targeting schools, colleges and universities

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  Campaigners plan legal action over NHS data sharing

  Privacy coalition aims to force NHS Digital to push back its plans to scrape medical information on millions of patients into a central database

• June 04, 2021 04 Jun'21

  BCS: Lack of communication over NHS GPDPR ‘astonishing’

  The Chartered Institute for IT has warned that millions of people are not being properly informed of NHS Digital plans to harvest their data

• June 04, 2021 04 Jun'21

  Government action on ransomware epidemic gathers pace

  The US government steps up action against ransomware operators, while the UK’s NCSC publishes guidance on preparing to deal with a ransomware attack

• 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 02, 2021 02 Jun'21

  Scottish businesses missing out on Cyber Essentials benefits

  More than a third of Scottish businesses do not believe they are adequately prepared to deal with a cyber security incident

• 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 31, 2021 31 May'21

  Microsoft brings APAC policymakers together in security council

  Microsoft’s APAC public sector security council will meet once a quarter to share threat intelligence and best practices for combating cyber threats

• 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

  Security ops teams struggle to switch off at home

  Spiralling stress levels among SOC and IT security teams can be attributed mainly to alert overload, says Trend Micro

• May 25, 2021 25 May'21

  CyberSprinters game gives kids a head start, says NCSC

  An online game for primary schools, clubs and youth organisations will teach children aged seven to 11 the fundamentals of staying safe online

• 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

  McAfee to change terms of auto-renewing consumer plans

  Consumers who found their McAfee antivirus contracts auto-renewed will be able to get out of their contracts and get their money back

• 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 21, 2021 21 May'21

  Lack of developer attention to cloud security prompts alerts

  The personal data of over 100 million Android users may have been put at risk through a variety of cloud service misconfigurations

• 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

  Malicious scans for at-risk systems start minutes after disclosure

  Statistics collated by Palo Alto Networks reveal malicious actors begin scanning the internet for systems at risk of new CVEs within minutes

• 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 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